The Federation of Genii
by Cactus Bob
Summary: To Atem, Yugi's past is a mystery. When the gang receives a very interesting flyer, Yugi is forced to reveal his childhood and tell them why he was so reluctant to speak about his history.
1. Hidden Memories

Tomorrow is my one year anniversary of fanfiction writing! Can you believe it? It feels like just yesterday when I sat down and typed out the little three-hundred-word prologue to my first fic. I feel so nostalgic…

Yu-Gi-Oh! © Kazuki Takahashi

* * *

"Would you clean the room, Yugi?" Yugi said, mocking Atem's deep voice with startling accuracy. "Why do I have to do it?" he asked himself, exasperated.

A small part of him told him the truth: Atem was always the one who cleaned the room. Yugi had to protest that it was because Atem was always the one who cared, but it didn't matter. If he wanted to be a good friend, then he had to clean his room when it was his turn.

Atem, who had been there with him earlier, nearly had to pry some completely useless items out of Yugi's pack-ratting fingertips—a trait he had inherited from his grandfather—in order to toss it into the trash.

It wasn't as if Yugi didn't like Atem. That was completely ridiculous. They had been close friends for years and had even shared a body for a span of time. That didn't mean that they could easily share a room, though.

Yugi looked under his bed. He hadn't been down there in ages, and a number of things had been accidentally kicked down there. That was the one place Atem had never touched. Yugi reached under and pulled out enormous amounts of lost items like toys, books, and… a diary.

He recognized that diary immediately. He had never wanted Atem to find it. He couldn't imagine what Atem would think of him after he read Yugi's mother's scribbling. Resentment, disgust, fear? No, never fear. Atem wasn't afraid of anything. But their relationship would never be the same, and Yugi couldn't bring himself to put the friendship they shared in jeopardy.

Yugi, feeling nostalgic, decided to open the diary up and read it while he had a moment to himself.

_The third moon and the seventh sun, year 521 of the second age. _

_Ichigo and I just arrived in Shentone a few hours ago. Before we checked in at our hotel, I had to see what all my friends had told me to see. The Senmarian Towers. Oh, they were so beautiful! They are all made of a mysterious white stone that glows in the dim Shentone light. They reached higher then I could possibly see. No one knows why or how they were made because they are too old. I hope Yugi will see them too, one day. I'll have to take him back here when he is old enough to appreciate them._

_It is very dark here, even during the height of noon. The thick Shentone clouds hover over us perpetually, casting a black-grey shadow on everything. And the entire city is a swamp, although it's a lovely swamp. It rains nearly every day, and it's horribly humid. No wonder the Poya are such grumps! It must be the weather._

_Ichigo has confined me to my inn room while he's out. As if I couldn't take care of myself! Just because I'm pregnant doesn't mean I'm helpless! I've saved his pink hide more times than I could count. Poya do have a tendency to alienate Loramysha, yes, but that's nothing new. …I hope that when Yugi grows up, he will not hate me because of the choice I have made. I love his father with all my heart, regardless of our differences. I wonder if he will feel alone in the world, though, because he is one of the few of his kind._

Yugi closed the book and fought to restrain tears. "I don't hate you, Meina…" he said, a bit of his native tongue slipping in with his fluent English. "I could never… I do fit in somewhere, and I have friends. Though I sometimes wonder if they would still be my friends if they knew…"

Yugi slipped his diary into a discreet slit in the mattress, where it was cozily tucked between the outer cover and the springs. He had made that slit when he was younger as a hiding place for small presents. That diary was something private of his, and he wasn't going to share it. But every time he read the words, he felt a sting of sorrow in his heart. He wished that he had gotten more time to get to know her. Her writing told him that she was a fierce, powerful woman, and no man or anything else was going to get in her way.

Yugi smiled softly as he thought of her face. "She was so beautiful…"

"Yugi?" Atem said, walking into the room. He noticed the somber look on Yugi's face. "Is something wrong?" he asked, concerned.

Yugi shook his head. "No, no, nothing's wrong…" he said. Nothing was wrong. Grief was just a part of life; it came up every once in a while to remind a person of those who came before.

Atem could tell he was lying. "Are you sure?" he asked, sitting next to Yugi on the floor.

"Sure," Yugi confirmed.

"Are you sure that you're sure?" Atem asked, grinning.

Yugi couldn't help but giggle. "I'm sure that I'm sure."

Atem nodded, placated. "I'm just checking, Yugi. You know that I care about you."

"I know," Yugi said. He had a number of friends that felt the same way about him, too. It was a comforting thing to know that you were loved. His days of feeling alone and exiled were over.

"The room seems to be going well…" Atem said uncertainly, as his eyes swept back and forth over the pile that Yugi had pulled from beneath their bed.

Yugi held his head, exhausted. "I'm making progress, I think. This is the last thing I have to do," he said, indicated the heap of junk.

"Do I have to force you to throw some things away?" Atem asked, winking. "Are you going to try to keep everything you've ever owned?"

"Uh… yes," Yugi joked, and then hit Atem in the face with a pillow. Atem quickly retaliated until it evolved into a full-scale pillow brawl. A few minutes later, they stopped, panting.

"Don't think that this is going to get you off," Atem said, picking himself off the floor. "Pillow fight or not, you still have work to do."

Yugi frowned. "Are you going to help me?" he asked.

"By help, do you mean that I do it for you?" Atem laughed. "This is something that you need to do for yourself. And I'm sorry that I have to leave you here to it, but there's not much more work to be done."

"I didn't have to do this sort of thing in Poranis," Yugi muttered as Atem turned to leave the room.

Atem stopped and looked at Yugi. "Poranis?" he asked. "Your childhood home?" Yugi never talked much about his past. As far as Atem had inferred, Yugi's parents had died when he was eight years old, and he had traveled to Grandpa's house to live with him. Grandpa, who had grown apart from his son, Ichigo, didn't even know that Yugi existed. Upon arrival, Yugi was sub-fluent in English and seemed uncomfortable around many people. Atem never knew where Yugi grew up, what language he spoke natively, or why he had once possessed an aversion to crowds.

Yugi quickly looked away. "Yeah," he said quietly, and returned to cleaning up his room.

"What was it like there?" Atem asked, sitting down on the bed.

"Cold," Yugi replied shortly, not looking up.

"… Is that all?"

"Basically."

Atem saw that Yugi still wasn't comfortable talking about his history and decided to leave Yugi to his work. "If you want to talk about it," he said, "I'm all ears."

"Thanks," Yugi said noncommittally. But he would never tell him. Not if he could ever help it.


	2. Shopping for Mysteries

Atem meandered down the street, occasionally looking into shop windows or stepping inside to browse. Yugi had kindly decided to tell him that tomorrow was Valentine's Day, a designated day to bestow objects of affection to a lover. Atem sighed. Yugi couldn't have told him sooner? It was evident that Tea was going to be expecting something, and it had to be something good. Yet Atem was someone who took a challenge and did his best with it, and this challenge was no different from any other.

Yugi did help him somewhat. Flowers were cliché, and chocolate was outdated. Unless, of course, you did something completely new with it. "Thank you, Yugi, that was very ambiguous of you," Atem muttered. Tea had made it quite clear that she enjoyed shiny things like necklaces and earrings, but what could he afford to buy? It wasn't as if he made a large salary from working for Grandpa at the Game Shop.

Atem strolled next to the mall when something struck him. He remembered when he and all of the others, including Serenity, Duke, and Mai, had gone on a shopping excursion last Tuesday. Tea and the rest of the girls were looking at dresses on their own, but he had overheard something they had said.

"_It's perfect!" Serenity remarked, as Tea held the summer dress up to her front and looked at herself in the mirror. "It's the perfect color and everything."_

"_She's right, hun," Mai agreed. "Wear that and your boyfriend will be drooling like a hungry dog, like every other guy who sees you."_

_Tea sighed and put it down. "It's size six, too. But I'm broke. I can't afford to buy this for another month."_

If Atem hadn't been so dignified, he would have jumped into the air and shouted for joy. The answer was right in front of his face! She had told him exactly what to get her, and he even knew the right dress, color, and size!

He walked quickly into the boutique and sighed in relief when he saw that the dress was still there. He brought it to the counter, where the check-out woman was idly chewing gum. "For ya girlfriend?" she asked. She didn't seem like she was in a very pleasant mood.

Atem nodded and she scanned it and began to gift-wrap it for him. "Well, ya a better boyfriend than I got," she said bitterly.

Atem was genuinely concerned. It was only manners to ask further. "What makes you say that?"

"He just broke up with me. _In an email._" She spat the last part with particular virulence. Atem had to assume that breaking up via email was a very disrespectful way to do the job.

"I am very sorry," he said, smiling briefly as he took his package off the counter and began to walk away.

"Hey, wait up a minute," she said, flipping through a few pieces of paper. "My friend has a boss who wants her ta hand this out." She handed a flyer to him. Atem took it and read it curiously. "Don't ask me what it's all about," she said, twisting a piece of hair around her finger and blowing a bubble with her gum. "I'm just following what the guy said."

'Thank you…" Atem said absently. He wasn't paying much attention the entire way home; he was much more interested in the flyer he had just been handed.

* * *

Yugi skipped over and picked up the phone. Darn timing, to ring at a moment like this. He had to pee!

"Mutou residence."

"Hey, Yugi!" Tea responded. "Can I come over? We could hang out."

Come over? Now? She couldn't do that! Atem was about to come home with some sort of present for her, and he couldn't let he see it until tomorrow. "Actually, I'm kinda busy right now. Maybe the day after tomorrow, or later today, if I can."

"Oh, that's too bad…" Tea said. Come on, speed it up! Yugi couldn't just stand there forever. "Well, I'll talk to you later, then."

"Sure. Bye," Yugi said quickly, and hung up. Now he could-

"Yugi!" Atem said from the hallway. "I think I found something interesting."

Not again! What was fate trying to do to him? "What is it, Atem?" Yugi asked, trying to be as polite as he could when he had places he needed to be.

Atem walked into the kitchen, carrying a wrapped box and a flyer of some sort. He put the box on the table and handed the flyer to Yugi. "Have you ever seen a flyer like that before?" he asked.

Yugi looked over it for a few seconds, and then he dropped it and ran off.

"Yugi!" Atem yelled after him. "What's wrong?"

The gang sat in the living room, each of them taking turns reading the advertisement. Atem had taken care to store his present in the closet before he invited Tea over.

"Dude, they were just handing this out on the street?" Tristan asked. Atem nodded. He had to twist his story somewhat, so that Tea wouldn't know that he had been out shopping at the last minute. "That's something to just give out to regular people."

The poster, upon further inspection, had read, "Come to Klyndeneya and join the Federation of Genii! Strong, fighting members of all species are welcome to form Unions and stop Lilitu from destroying the worlds. We serve a number of interterrestrial bar snacks, including slate shakes, mold biscuits, and raw buffalo steaks!"

"Interterrestrial? All species?" Tea asked. "Is this a joke or something?"

"And why is 'worlds' plural? Dey make it sound like dis is a bar for aliens." Joey said.

Atem shook his head. "I don't know, but I believe that this bar, 'Klyndeneya', is a place where people can get together to hunt these 'Lilitu' for a living."

Yugi squirmed uncomfortably. Atem was right on track, but Yugi didn't want him to be. If he knew what it was about, he might want to go…

"We should look into this Union business," Atem said, right on cue. Yugi mentally cursed in the old tongue. So predictable… "If we can be of any assistance, if we can 'protect the worlds', they we should do our best."

"Well, den, what are we waiting for?" Joey said, leaping up. "Da address is right here. Let's get going!"

Atem nodded and started to leave. Yugi didn't know what to do. Should he try to stop them? They could get seriously hurt in the Federation! Suddenly, Atem turned around. "Yugi, Tea…" he said slowly. "I don't think that you two should come with us."

Tea was horrified. "Why not?!" she asked incredulously.

"If we are going to be physically fighting these Lilitu, then you could get hurt, or even killed," Atem said, trying to word it so that he didn't excessively offend anyone. "I'm sorry to say this, but I don't think that you two are really the… fighting type."

Tea made a sound that seemed half-gasp, half-shriek. Then she crossed her arms and sank into one hip. "So what? You think that because I'm a _girl_, I can't take care of myself?" she asked, utterly perturbed.

Atem saw his mistake and hurried to correct it. "No, of course not, Tea, that's not what I meant at all!"

"Then what did you mean? Huh?" she asked, getting close in his face.

Atem racked his brain but he couldn't think of another way to say it. Tea growled at him and stormed out of the room, retreating to Yugi and Atem's bedroom. Atem stood there, shocked at his immense failure.

"And the day before Valentine's, too…" Tristan said, summing up the awfulness of the exchange.

As his last hope for understanding, Atem turned to Yugi. "Yugi, you know that I don't think you're weak. But I don't want to see you in that sort of situation."

Somewhat to Atem's surprise, Yugi didn't take offense at all. "Guess I'm really not the fighting type," he said, shrugging. "You guys go ahead and enjoy yourselves. I'll try to console Tea."

Atem smiled, relieved that he hadn't alienated two friends in five minutes. "Thank you, Yugi," he said.

Atem, Joey, and Tristan walked outside, on their way to Klyndeneya. Yugi sat down on the couch for a moment. "They'll never even get into a fight," Yugi assured himself. "Once they find out how much more there is to know, they'll just come back and give up on the whole thing." But a part of him realized that Atem, Joey, and Tristan weren't the type to give up easily. What if they really did get themselves killed or arrested? A Union member had to know the laws of each world he visited, and they didn't even know the worlds' names.

Yugi closed his eyes and hoped that Atem would come to his senses and get out of the trade… before it was too late.


	3. Revelations Pt 1

Yugi walked into the bedroom, prepared to be the best honorary girlfriend he could be for Tea. He had to make her understand that Atem cared about her so much that he wanted to keep her out of harm's way.

Tea was lying on her back on the bed, gazing at the ceiling and swishing her foot. "Hey, Yugi," she said. Her voice was pensive and far-away, as if she was thinking deeply about something.

Yugi sat next to her. "Hey, Tea." They sat in silence for a while. Yugi understood if Tea needed time to work out her emotions in her own head for a while.

"Does he think I'm weak?" Tea asked finally. "Is it just some Old Kingdom sexism that was programmed into his head when he was little?"

Yugi shook his head. "Of course it's not."

"What makes you so sure?" Tea asked.

"Because he asked me not to come either," Yugi stated simply.

Tea fought her way around this logic. "Well, that's just… discrimination against the vertically-challenged!"

Yugi laughed. Ever since the ceremonial duel, Atem had grown to a reasonable height (at least he was as tall as Tea, now), but Yugi had remained a minute 5 feet. It was slightly annoying when he was surrounded by people who were taller than him, but it was in his genes. It couldn't be helped.

"You know that's not it, Tea," Yugi said. "He's concerned about you, that's all. He doesn't want us to get hurt. Joey and Tristan beat up on each other for fun, and Atem had to learn to fight when he was a pharaoh. But we don't have that experience, admit it."

"Hey, I'm an archer!" Tea said. "I can hit a fifty-yard bull's eye, easy."

Yugi was surprised. "Really?" he asked. "I had no idea."

"… Atem probably doesn't either, huh?" she asked quietly. Yugi nodded. She sat up. "Okay, I guess I can forgive him."

Yugi cheered and hugged Tea around the waist. "You won't regret it, you know," he said matter-of-factly.

"I hope they don't get hurt, too," she said after detaching Yugi from her mid-section.

"Don't worry about them," Yugi said dismissively. "Once they realize how in over their heads they are, they'll be crawling back here with their tails between their legs."

"How do you know that, Yugi?" Tea asked. Yugi grimaced. He had slipped.

"Come on!" he said, hurrying to correct his mistake. "Without knowing anything about the four worlds and the races, they're bound to get into some sort of trouble."

"Four?" Darn it! He had slipped again! He wasn't usually this careless. All of this talk about Unions and the Federation had made him sloppy. "Yugi, how do you know all this?"

Tea was catching on now. He couldn't think of any way to get out of the hole he had dug for himself. Maybe he should just resign himself to his fate and get it over with. "Alright… Tea, there's something you need to know… about me," Yugi said, nervousness and apprehension building in his belly.

"What's that?" she asked, grinning as she got her way.

"I'm… I'm not human."

* * *

Atem and the others went to the address on the flyer. "This is it," Atem observed, reading the sign that said "Klyndeneya".

They opened the door and walked inside. It was dark at first, too dark to see, but when the came out on the other side they were met with an entire different world.

Or perhaps a few.

People of all different colors and heights strolled around the dark bar. Immediately, Atem noticed four distinct types, types that he assumed were the different races.

"Whoa…" was all that Tristan said, as he stared around at the myriad species.

"I think we need to get more information," Atem said wisely. "Let's ask the bartender if he can help us."

They hesitantly walked up to the bar and took a seat. "There's nobody here," Joey said, and he was right. At that moment there was no one tending the bar.

"Tell Frenji to get off of her frozen rear-end and restock in the back!" a large, brusque, red-skinned man yelled into the back room as he went to the counter. He turned to face them, and they saw that he had fierce, pointed teeth and glowing eyes. "Customers!" he exclaimed cheerfully. "What can I get you fine humans today?"

"Would you mind telling us more about the Federation?" Atem asked, polite regardless of the man's thick build or hairy skin. "We received a flyer earlier, and we're interested in joining a Union."

The creature's smile faded. "Another one of you civilians lining up to get yourselves killed, are ya? Why don't you just go back to your clean and pristine little world before you get yourselves hurt, huh?"

"What's dat supposed ta mean?" Joey asked, his shyness becoming overwhelmed by his anger. "You think we can't handle ourselves?"

"It's not just a matter of brawls and brawn, mate," the barkeep replied. "How much do you know about the races? How much do you know about the worlds?"

The question hit deep. They didn't know anything. "What are you gonna wear when you get dropped off at Astala, huh?"

They didn't respond. They couldn't. "The warmest clothes you got. And what race am I, doncha know that too?"

He grinned as they remained silent. "That would be Kryllian. The Federation isn't interested in getting idiot humans killed, mate. So go home and come back if you want a drink."

The Kryllian picked up a glass with a six-fingered hand and began washing it in a sink behind the counter. Atem looked at the others, and they agreed with them. They really should go.

* * *

"You're not human!" Tea yelled at him. Yugi hopped off the bed. He was afraid of this reaction.

"Please, Tea. I-I'm _mostly_ human…" he stammered. He had hidden it for so long. Even Grandpa didn't know. Grandpa hadn't even known that his son had begotten a child, until little Yugi had showed up on his doorstep.

Tea breathed hard, her eyes flicking back and forth. She didn't know what to do with this information. _"Tea, Tea, calm down."_ she coached herself. _"Yugi went out on a limb to tell you this. Treat him with respect."_

"… So you're one of the other races?" Tea asked quietly.

Yugi nodded, hanging his head in shame. "I-I'm half Loramyshan… on my mother's side."

Yugi stared at the ground. He couldn't bear to look up at Tea's face and find out if she hated him or loved him. What had he done? He had jeopardized their friendship, and now he had to face the consequences.

Suddenly, he felt a hand on his shoulder. "You're still my friend, Yugi." He wasn't sure if she was telling him or herself, but it was still good to hear.

"Really?" he asked, finally looking up at her.

She smiled. "Yeah. I have to admit, at first I was a little worried. But now I realize that nothing's changed. You could have told me before."

"I'm sorry, Tea, I just…" he trailed off, unable to find the words. "I knew you would accept me, somewhere deep down. But I didn't know whether I was wrong or not."

Tea nodded. "I understand." She flopped back onto the bed and casually examined her nails. "So tell me about the races. How many are there, and what are they like? I mean, you look human enough."

Yugi closed his eyes and concentrated. His form glowed and shifted a bit, but when he finished he was his other self again. He hadn't taken Loramyshan form for a very long time…

Tea blinked the Yugi-shaped black blur from her eyes and took in Yugi's new appearance. His skin and lips were a pale blue color, as if he had hypothermia. His hair still stood up wildly, but it was a stark, frozen white instead of tri-colored. The bridge of his nose didn't curve; instead, it was one straight line from his forehead to his nose's tip. Tea couldn't help but wonder how he would wear glasses. His arms and fingers were longer, too – his slate blue fingernails brushed against his knee-caps.

"Since I'm one of the few half-human half-Loramysha, I can take both forms…" he said, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.

Tea looked him up and down. "Cool…" she said, causing Yugi to giggle in relief.

"You can take that literally," he said, and reached toward her. "Feel."

She took his hand and yelped. He was freezing. Yugi laughed. "The planet where Loramysha come from, Astala, is very cold all year long. All other races aren't even allowed in certain ports when it's winter. You could freeze to death."

"Astala, huh? Pretty name…" she said, although she didn't like the idea of turning into a human icicle.

"There are four worlds." Yugi explained, sitting down on the floor with his legs crossed. "Earth, of course. Astala, my home planet. There's also Kryos. It's a hot planet, and dry, too. Like a giant desert. That's where the Kryllians come from."

"Kryllians?" Tea asked. "Another race?"

"They're tall and have red, hairy skin. Twelve fingers and toes. They can stand pretty high temperatures because of living in Kryos, and they heal really fast." Yugi said, and then wondered what to say next. "Oh yeah, the last planet is called Senmar. It's swamp-like and dark, and it rains nearly all the time. Home to the Poya."

"And who are the Poya?"

"They average seven feet tall and 100 pounds."

Tea grimaced. "A race full of supermodels. Wow."

Yugi smiled. "They don't care much for the other races and keep to themselves on Senmar."

Tea leaned back on her hands. "This is a lot of information. Anything else?"

"The Lilitu," said Yugi. "They come in all sorts of categories, but they all have low intelligence and no conscience at all. They like to eat most creatures and that's why the Federation was formed. People come in with reports of Lilitum sightings and Unions are paid for completing the assignments."

"… You should really have told Atem and the others about all this, you know," Tea said. Yugi looked up with a terrified expression on his face. "Come on, Yugi. You told me, and they're the ones who need to know!"

Yugi held his head and pulled his knees up to his chest. "Do you think they'll feel the same way you did?"

"Of course!" Tea exhorted, patting Yugi on his ice-cold back. "Do you think they're superficial or something?"

"No… you're right, Tea. I'll tell them."

"Good," Tea said, brimming with happiness at her success.


	4. Revelations Pt 2

"Well dat was a big fat waste of time," Joey moped, kicking a soda can down the street.

Atem sighed. He hadn't really known what he was getting into, but he thought that someone could have helped him out. "How is anyone supposed to get into the Federation when no one will explain anything?" Atem asked himself aloud.

Tristan was thinking about something. "You know, we really weren't any more qualified for this than the others were."

They stopped. Tristan was right. They had just gone through that whole spiel about the others getting themselves hurt, but they hadn't even been given the _opportunity_ to fight. "Kinda makes you understand how it feels, huh?" Joey observed. "I hope the others don't feel as bad."

Atem had some serious apologies to make. Yugi had acted alright, but Atem didn't really know if Yugi could fight or not. He had made assumptions, and he was genuinely sorry.

They walked into the Game Shop and headed up the stairs. "Hey, guys!" Tristan asked. "We got something to say to you!"

Tea walked out of the bedroom, pulling Yugi behind her. He looked reluctant as he was dragged in front of the others. "Hi," she said cheerfully. Apparently she wasn't angry at Atem anymore. Girl's hormones changed as quickly as the commercials on the TV.

"We have an apology we have to make," Atem admitted.

Tea seemed interested. "Really? Is that why you're back so early?"

The others shuffled their feet embarrassedly. "One of the other races told us that we were going to get ourselves killed," Atem said. "That's why we're back early."

"Which race?" Tea asked.

Joey was confused. "Whaddya mean, 'which race'? We don't know. He had red, furry skin and yellow eyes."

"So you mean a Kryllian! Right, Yugi?" she asked, poking the young half-breed. Yugi blushed and nodded.

Tristan scratched his head. "Huh? How do you guys know about that?"

"Tell them, Yugi," she said, nudging him in the side. He didn't respond. "Tell them, Yugi," she said more firmly.

Yugi sighed and stepped forward. "What would you guys think if I told you… that I wasn't from Earth?"

The others were silent. "What are ya tryin' ta say, Yug'?" Joey asked hesitantly. He was almost afraid of the answer.

Yugi closed his eyes and transformed into a Loramys. Atem, Joey and Tristan gasped. Atem immediately recognized Yugi's new appearance as the same as some of the patrons of Klyndeneya. "You are one of the other races?" Atem asked Yugi incredulously.

Yugi nodded shyly, trying to hide behind Tea who kept pushing him back in front of his friends. "Dis is awesome! We can go shove dis in dat barkeeper's face!" Joey exclaimed, always seeing the bright side of things. He gave Tristan a high-five. "What now?" he said mockingly to the invisible Kryllian bartender.

Yugi laughed. Tea was right. He was so relieved. Atem walked up to him. "Yugi, have you had experience with the Federation before?"

Yugi nodded emphatically. Atem noticed that he seemed to radiate cold. "You bet I have! My parents had a Union of their own, and they went on missions when I was a kid. I practically grew up in Klyndeneya. Besides, I had to apply for a permit to live on Earth permanently…"

"So, tell me about it," Atem requested as Joey and Tristan began a victory dance. "What do I need to know about the Federation to join?"

"Well, let me tell you about the worlds and the races…"

About ten minutes later, Yugi had finished telling his friends about everything regarding the Federation. In order to join a Union, they had to have a down payment for weapons and assignment collateral, along with a computer quiz on the basics of the worlds. Yugi had the money and the knowledge, so passing would be easy.

"You couldn't have told us 'bout dis before?" Joey asked after Yugi narration. "You could have saved us some humiliation."

"I'm sorry, guys," Yugi said, scratching his flat nose. "But I've kept this secret for half of my life." He glanced at his hand, with its blue skin and long fingers. "It feels strange to be Loramyshan again…"

"So this is why you never talk about your past," Atem realized. "You never wanted us to know that you came from Astala."

Yugi nodded. Tea adopted a shrink-like, cavalier attitude. "So, tell us about yourself."

"I lived in Poranis, one of the Astalan ports, for half of every year," Yugi began. "My parents always lived near a port, because they were Union members and they had to travel often. For the other half of the year, I lived in the Senmarian port of Toritana. We had to move back and forth because of the weather. Since my father was human, he wouldn't be able to survive the cold."

"It must have been weird, flip-flopping back and forth like that," Tristan said.

"I lived my entire life that way," Yugi said. "Most of my friends were Klyndeneya's staff members, so it became like a sort of third home. I didn't realize how strange it was until my parents died…" He trailed off, the emotions of the loss welling in his throat. "They were killed on a mission to Kryos, by a mother Lilitum."

"What's a mother Lilitum?" Atem asked. He already knew what a Lilitum was, because Yugi had told him earlier.

"Lilitu are like bees. They have drones, which are the ones you'll most often meet. And they also have queens, known as mother Lilitu, that spawn all of the drones. They're very powerful and enormous. Nearly impossible to kill…" Yugi seemed lost in thought for a while. He wondered if his parents knew that it was a mother Lilitum. They would never have done something so reckless… would they?

"After that, I decided to live on Earth with my grandfather." Yugi continued. "I had to take a test from the Federation in order to do it. It was about things like customs and laws. They also had to make sure I could maintain a human form indefinitely, which took a couple of unpleasant experiments."

Atem noticed something. "Why is it that Earth is the only planet that seems excluded from the Federation? Kryos, Astala, and Senmar all know about the other worlds and races, but I'm only hearing of it now."

"A long, long time ago, the ports weren't machines like they are now. They were stones, made of a mysterious material that allowed you to travel to its 'brother' on another planet." Yugi answered, happy that he had paid attention in his Astalan history class. "A few primitive people of each race got together to discuss the proper use of these 'portstones', and they came to an agreement to create the Federation, an interterrestrial body of law to protect each world.

"But the leader of the humans wanted the power of the portstones for himself. He tried to kill the other members by using trickery and deceit. But the Kryllians were not easily fooled, and they punished the humans by denying them the right to join the Federation. You all lived in ignorance of our entire existence until the 1950s, when an Astalan pro-human rights activist decided to set up Klyndeneya, meaning 'may Kryos forgive' in the Astalan language. Most humans go inside and think that it's all an elaborate costume party, but certain people, like you guys, have taken things seriously and decided to join Unions."

"Wow…" Tea remarked. "Remind me to thank that pro-human rights activist."

Yugi laughed. "Her name is Pijana, and she's my grandmother."

The gang's jaws dropped. "Your grandmother?!" they exclaimed simultaneously.

"That's one of the reasons my mother married a human." Yugi said, smiling at their reaction. "It probably wouldn't have been legal if it wasn't for Grandma's efforts."

"So, Yugi…" Tristan began. Yugi urged him on. "If your grandmother was available, then why did you decide to go through the trouble of living on Earth?"

Yugi winked. "I've always loved human food. Going to Earth gave me an opportunity to eat as much of it as I wanted!"


	5. Snowflakes and Slate Shakes

Yugi and the others walked back into Klyndeneya, now confident in their new knowledge. As soon as they arrived, the bartender who had rebuked them earlier greeted Yugi with a wave of a six-fingered hand. "Yugi! You've grown since I last saw you, but not much."

Yugi turned as red as he could get in his Loramyshan form. "All Loramysha are short, Terzen!" he yelled back indignantly. "You know that!"

Terzen laughed a deep, rumbling chuckle. "You know I like to give you snowflakes a hard time. Sit down, I got a slate shake all set up for you."

Yugi shook his head. "Maybe later, Terzen. I heard that you were giving my friends a hard time earlier." He indicated the others, who were standing near the entryway and watching this interaction.

Terzen scratched a fur-covered head. "_Those_ blokes are your mates? They strolled in here with no clue 'bout the races or anything!"

"That was my fault," Yugi explained. "Don't blame them. They learn fast and they're accustomed to the otherworldly."

Terzen gestured for the gang to take a seat. "Well, I'll have to apologize for giving you all a hard time."

"Don't worry about it… Terzen, right?" Tea asked.

Terzen laughed again. "That's correct. And who's this lovely lass?"

Tea blushed under the compliment. "I'm Tea. You're very kind."

"It's part of the business, my dear. It makes return customers. Besides, I don't get many human ladies coming in here and not staring at me like I'm a bloody albino Plains Lizard." Terzen said, winking a yellow eye. He turned to Yugi. "You all want to start a Union, I'm going to have to ask your weapon preferences and get your preliminary payments."

Yugi pulled a card out of his coat pocket and slid it like a Visa through a discreet slot in the counter. A monitor came out of the counter and displayed, "Current Balance: Seventy-Five Rasta".

"Rasta?" Atem asked.

"An interterrestrial unit of currency. Equivalent to about five dollars." Yugi explained, pressing the button for "Union formation".

"Ten rasta for collateral, plus five rasta for each member…" he muttered as he entered the figures into the computer.

"Can I get you all anything?" Terzen asked the gang. "We take human currency."

"Uh… what do you have?" Tristan asked. From the specialties that he had seen in the flyer, he didn't think he'd be too interested in snacking here.

"For humans of your ages, we have root beer, pretzels, and some beef jerky," he said. He looked eager to hook some more customers.

Joey's face lightened at the mention of the jerky, but Tea politely shook her head. "Sorry, Terzen, nothing today." She knew that she would end up paying for everything.

Terzen frowned and returned to cleaning up the counter, and the gang decided to see how Yugi was doing.

The screen now read, "Weapon preference", with five empty slots for each of them. Yugi selected "Earth longbow" for one and "Astalan Getya sword" for another. He turned to the others. "Weapon preference?" he asked, echoing the computer.

"Broadsword. Earth, I presume." Atem said. He had some experience with other weapons as well, but the broadsword was always his favorite. Yugi entered it quickly.

Joey thought on it for a while. "I don't know, Yug'!" he admitted finally. "I've always fought with my fists and feet." Yugi shrugged and selected "Earth iron knuckles".

Joey leaned forward and checked out his choice. "Iron knuckles… nice."

"Not me, man. I've always preferred a good rebar." Tristan said, thinking back to the days when he used to make these kinds of decisions. At this, Yugi selected "Earth spear".

"Now for the test!" he exclaimed, frowning slightly as he saw the new balance of forty rasta in his account.

"Who's the bow for?" Joey asked, as Yugi selected "next" on the screen.

Tea raised her hand. "I've practiced archery since I was little," she explained. "I've never actually hit a _moving_ target, but I guess that will come with practice."

"I never knew that, Tea," Atem said. "Why didn't you tell me that when we were talking earlier?"

Tea shrugged. "A part of me was just angry because you didn't think I could take care of myself. But another part just wanted to stay back with Yugi, I suppose. It would have only made things worse for him if he was the only one who didn't get to come."

Yugi smiled. In a way, Tea and Atem reminded him of his parents. Tea was strong-willed and independent, while Atem was slightly antiquated and very protective. It was a strange pairing, but oddly enough it seemed to be successful.

The first question popped up on the screen. "In Kryos, what two offenses are worthy of capital punishment?"

Yugi scribbled "murder and adultery" on the screen with an electronic pen and pressed "accept".

"Sheesh," said Joey. "Guess dey have a strict policy on dat sort of thing."

The second question: "What is the highest peak in Astala?" Yugi grinned at the easy question and entered "Mt. Eurta".

The third question: "In winter, what is the average temperature of Desterfeld?" Yugi entered "One hundred and fifty degrees Fahrenheit".

A brief flash of a green "3/3!" appeared on the monitor and Yugi smiled happily at his success. "A short test," Atem commented. The details of their Union were displayed. Each of their names with their races and weapons were listed, along with the number of assignments they had taken. At this point, the number was none.

"Do you guys want to search for an assignment now, or wait until later?" Yugi asked them.

Joey grinned mischievously. "Of course now! There could be Lilitu attacking innocent citizens! Let's go!"

Yugi smiled at his enthusiasm and selected "available assignments". About fifty new missions were displayed.

"There seem to be lots of Lilitum sightings out there," Atem said correctly.

Yugi nodded. "This is for every world and every Union out there, so it would make sense there'd be a lot."

"How about dat one?" Joey said, excited to try out his iron knuckles. He pointed to an assignment to hunt a Wraith Lilitum in Raidne, Senmar.

Yugi grimaced and shook his head vigorously. "Wraiths are serious business. They can be solid or incorporeal whenever they want. Maybe we should start out with something easier."

"Okay, how about this one?" Tea suggested, pointing to an assignment to hunt a Yeti Lilitum in Demapharia, Astala.

Again, Yugi shook his head. "It's winter in Demapharia. Humans aren't allowed."

Tea frowned at her bad suggestion. Atem leaned forward and decided to pick one. "Would this be alright, Yugi?" he asked. He had selected a Snake Lilitum in Rosterfeld, Kryos. It had become known as the Midgard Serpent because of its enormous belly. According to the description, it had swallowed the treasures of a number of ancient Kryllian tombs.

Yugi thought about it for a while. Rosterfeld wasn't nearly as hot as Desterfeld, but it was still hot, and even in their human form half-Loramysha did not take well to excessively high temperatures. Actually, any temperature over eighty was near torture to them. But Yugi decided to get over his aversion to heat and give the Serpent a go. "Sure, Atem. That sounds like a good assignment." He pressed the accept button and the mission disappeared from the list.

"So, what exactly is Rosterfeld like?" Atem asked. "I want to be prepared."

"Well, you did grow up in Egypt, but I still suggest you wear light clothing." Yugi said, getting a tad uneasy about his trek through Rosterfeld. "It's a desert, you see. We'll have to take food for you guys, and water. And we should rent a drederstein, so it will be faster…" Yugi didn't like the effect this would have on his account. The food and water he could get at home, but they would have to get at least three dredersteins, which cost 8 rasta each for two days.

"Why only food for us? What about you?" Tea asked. Yugi wasn't crazy enough to starve himself to save money, she knew that.

"Don't worry about me. There's plenty of food out there for me to eat," he said plainly. The others stared at him, not understanding. He sighed. "Because of the climate in Astala, Loramysha don't have to ingest organic things to survive. We eat rocks, instead."

"Rocks?" Joey asked incredulously. "Well, dat explains da 'slate shake' thing…"

Yugi lit up. "I know, slate is my favorite!" He got more depressed. "But there's a whole bunch of sandstone out in Rosterfeld. It'll be easy to get some."

The gang nodded. They all knew that Yugi had strange tastes, especially after they found out that he liked Atem's cooking.

"So the Serpent is just wandering out in the desert somewhere?" Tea asked. "How are we supposed to find him?"

"Since it likes to eat treasure, it's probably gorging itself in the Tomb of Grend. He was a famous Kryllian king that saved the Federation by protected Kryos from invasion by the Poya in the first age," Yugi said. "He has loads of treasure stocked up in his resting place down in Rosterfeld."

"Alright, then!" Joey said, pumping his fist enthusiastically. "Let's get this party started!"


	6. Through Rosterfeld

Everyone had gone home to get ready for the trip. They packed nonperishable food, lots of water, and dressed themselves in the lightest summer clothing they had. They had all put on sunscreen, except for Yugi. According to him, Loramyshan skin didn't burn. The sun on Astalan mountains was harsh and his kind had to develop a protective layer of zinc oxide beneath the skin.

Atem was packing up the last of the food when a knock came at the door. "It must be the others," Atem said.

Yugi nodded and went to let them in. "Hey, guys!" he said as the throng of Union members piled into his home.

"Hey, Yug', ya ready?" Joey asked. He carried a backpack and was dressed in a tank top and some cargo shorts.

Yugi sighed. "As ready as ever, Joe," he admitted.

Tea looked concerned. "Something wrong, Yugi?" Yugi nodded. "I bet you're worried about the weather." She was dressed in short shorts and a tube top. Yugi noticed Joey and Tristan trying repeatedly to rein in their eyes in case Atem noticed and had them stoned to death.

"I'll be alright, Tea," Yugi remembered something. "Oh yeah, Atem wanted to speak with you."

"Really?" Tea asked. "OK."

She walked into the kitchen, where Atem was sitting with his backpack full of supplies. "Hello, Tea," he said fondly.

"Hey. Yugi said that there was something you wanted to tell me?" asked Tea.

Atem nodded. "Wait here a moment." He left the room and Tea loitered patiently for a while. After a few minutes, Atem came back in, carrying a wrapped box.

Tea gasped. "Presents? For me?"

"It is Valentine's Day, Tea, regardless of where we're going later on." He held the box out to her.

She pouted for a moment. "I didn't get you anything. I'm so sorry. I didn't think that you would be into that sort of thing, since it wasn't invented when you grew up."

Atem shook his head. "I'll admit, I wouldn't have gotten you anything either if Yugi hadn't told me what Valentine's was all about. Don't worry, and just enjoy the gift."

Tea tore open the package with reckless abandon and eventually pulled out the elegant, cotton candy pink sun dress. "Oh, it's just the one I wanted!" she said, hugging the soft fabric to her exposed stomach.

"I'm glad you like it, Tea," he said, and slowly raised her hand and kissed it.

Tea blushed. Even his old-fashioned ways were hopelessly romantic.

"Hey, what da heck are you two doin' in dere?" Joey bellowed from the entry-way. "We gotta go save the Tomb of Gerd, or whatever!"

"It's the Tomb of Grend, Joey!" Yugi rebuked from downstairs.

Atem and Tea smiled. The moment was officially ruined.

* * *

Yugi and the others strolled back into Klyndeneya after lunch. Yugi waved cheerfully in Terzen's direction. He was still in his human form to help him deal with the heat on their way through Rosterfeld.

"Yugi! Your weapons have come in!" Terzen greeted. He gestured to the back room, officially inviting Yugi to enter. Yugi walked off as Tea sat down at the bar.

"Hello, Terzen," she said, smiling sweetly. "I love what you've done with your hair!"

She was one of the few humans that would have noticed that the Kryllian had shaved his head. He laughed, obviously thrilled that someone liked it. "Thank you, lass," he said, running six digits over his scalp. "Just had it done last night."

"Well, it looks great," she said as she snacked on some beer nuts, which were situated next to some pebbles and something that looked like moss.

Yugi walked out of the back room carrying a small arsenal. He stumbled under the collective weight and piled them onto the counter. "Here's everything," Yugi panted.

He picked out a thin, flat sword in a hard leather sheath. That must have been the Getya sword he selected earlier. He took it and fastened the belt it was attached to around his waist. Then he handed a bow and a quiver full of swan-feather arrows to Tea, and he gave a six foot long oak staff to Tristan. The iron knuckles went to Joey and the broadsword went to Atem.

"Awesome!" Joey said, slipping the knuckles up his fingers. Atem situated his sword so that it could be easily unsheathed by his left hand.

"So you all are ready to go?" Terzen asked. "I've programmed that port to send you straight to Trendestad."

"Sure thing, Terzen. We'll see you later," Yugi said, and headed toward the nearest port. He stepped in and his figure flickered and faded.

"Next," said Terzen.

The others walked forward. They had to admit, traveling to another planet was a little nerve-wracking. But if Yugi could do it, so could they. Atem walked forward and stepped into the port. Yugi had expressly instructed him to close his eyes, so he pressed them tightly together and when he opened them, he was on the other side.

Trendestad was the capital port of the Kryllian Federation, and it was naturally bustling with activity. Humans and Kryllians walked from bazaar to bazaar, buying exotic things from extraterrestrial craftsmen. The maze of streets was paved with sand-covered cinder-block, and the buildings were made of bright red clay. It was a striking contrast to the bright blue sky, which loomed cloudlessly over Atem as he stepped out of the port.

"Amazing…" Atem breathed, looking around him at all the sights he had to see. Yugi was standing a ways off, talking to a Kryllian animatedly. Atem nearly fell as Tea, Joey, Tristan piled off the port after him, knocking him forward.

"Check it out," Joey said, gazing at the scenery. "Dis place is wicked."

"Hey, there's Yugi!" Tea noticed, pointing in the hybrid's direction. They walked over to him and overheard his conversation.

"I'm going to need two of the bigger ones and one of the smaller ones." Yugi bargained with a Kryllian clad in a roughly sew hide.

"Why so specific, good sir?" the Kryllian asked slyly. "Why not just get five of any sort? You and your fellow riders will be much more comfortable."

Yugi glared at him and spoke with a commanding voice that sounded foreign on him. "Comfort is not an issue. You will get me what I asked for."

The Kryllian scowled and went into a nearby shop. "Hey, Yugi. Haggling with the shop owners?" Tristan asked cheerfully.

Yugi nodded. "We need rides to get to the Tomb. I'm trying to save rasta, at least until we get our paid for this mission."

The shopkeeper walked back out, carrying the reins of three sizeable and vicious-looking hounds. They were easily as tall as Joey, and they growled at the gang as green saliva dripped from their serrated teeth. "Whoa!" Joey exclaimed, backing quickly up with the others. "You expect us ta ride these things?"

Yugi slid his card into a nearby account reader and took the reins of the beasts himself. "They're harmless, at least to their owners. They'll help you a lot if you get into a fight on the open road, though." He passed the reins of the bigger ones to Atem and Joey and leaped nimbly on the back of the smaller. "Come on, don't be shy."

Tea immediately hurried to Atem's side. "I'm with him," she said. It wasn't as if she didn't trust Joey and Tristan… Then again, maybe it was.

Atem smiled at her, and then mounted the drederstein and lifted Tea up to ride behind him. Joey and Tristan were not so graceful. At first they argued about who would be in front, and then they had difficulty getting on the creature at all. "We're up; we're good," Joey said finally, as Tristan bitterly sat behind him.

Yugi winked. "Good," he said briefly, and then kicked his drederstein into a gallop, heading out the east gate into Rosterfeld.

* * *

"Can we stop for a while?" Tea asked, panting in the extreme heat. Regardless of the sunscreen, her skin had turned the color of a cooked lobster. She was sweating profusely, like all of the others. Yugi was taking it worse than any of them. He had appeared to be half-asleep for the last half-hour or so, and was sweating so much that it looked like he was melting.

"I think we should rest for a while," Atem said, noticing Yugi's exhaustion as well. He guided his drederstein into the shade of a gargantuan rock and lightly dismounted. Unlike the rest of his friends, Atem was made for this sort of weather. The sting of the sand and the burn of the sun were like security blankets.

Joey, Tristan, and Yugi were not so nimble. Joey and Tristan tripped over each other as they landed on the golden sand and Yugi nearly collapsed onto the ground. "Are you alright, Yugi?" Atem asked. He helped Yugi stand upright, and Yugi nodded.

"I'll be okay," Yugi said tiredly. "But Loramysha weren't built for this sort of weather…" He held his head and swooned.

"Let's eat something. I'm starving," Tea said, opening her backpack and taking out some water and some beef jerky. She offered the water to Yugi, who took it gratefully.

They snacked in silence for a while. "Hey, Yug'?" Joey asked. "When are you going to eat somethin'?"

Yugi looked up. Had he been sleeping with his eyes open again? "Oh, uh, I guess I could eat now…"

"I mean there's a big rock just behind ya," Tristan commented. He wasn't as interested in Yugi's well being as he pretended to be. Really, he just wanted to see Yugi eat stone.

Yugi quickly transformed, and then took a Swiss-army knife out of his pocket and stabbed it into a protruding section of the boulder, causing a chuck to fall off. He picked it up with his hand and easily sunk his teeth into it. He grimaced. "Sandstone…"

Tea watched with wide eyes as Yugi casually chewed on the stone. "How do you do that?"

"Do what?" he asked innocently.

"Chew rock!" she answered. "That stuff can be hard! How can you bite it without your teeth falling off?"

Yugi swallowed and opened his mouth, revealing pointed teeth. "Loramysha can release a highly acidic spit that coats their teeth. It dissolves the rock in seconds."

Joey shook his head in admiration. "You all got a lot of tricks up your sleeves…"

Yugi brushed the sand off his hands and changed back into a human. He pointed off into the distance. "Do you see that bulge in the rock over there? That's the Tomb. We're getting close."

"And then our first mission can really begin," Atem said. They would be working their way through an ancient tomb to destroy a humongous snake, and then they would go back to Earth to get payment from an alien. To them, it was nothing unusual.


	7. The Midgard Serpent

Hello! I'm a day late, yes, but it is Christmas and all, and I figure that you're all not too worried. I hope that everyone enjoyed their holidays!

* * *

"Here we are. Finally…" Yugi said, dismounting and tying his drederstein's reins to a nearby desert tree. Even after his brief respite, the heat was still taking a hard toll on him. Hopefully, he would be in good enough health to fight the Midgard Serpent without killing himself.

Tea looked up at the majestic arch that was carved into the rock wall. It were inscribed with pictures of mighty Kryllians fighting against the fragile-looking Poya. She wondered if the Poya remembered that battle as a day of victory for the Federation, or a day of defeat for Senmar.

"Are we ready to go?" Atem asked, placing a ready hand on his sword hilt. "The sooner we defeat this Lilitum, the sooner Yugi can get out of this weather."

Yugi smiled gratefully at his concern. "I'll be fine, Atem. And you're right; we should hurry up before the snake eats too many treasures."

He walked cautiously towards the entrance. There was no way that getting into the Tomb would be easy, considering the number of tomb robbers that roamed the worlds. He picked up a rock and tossed it into the arch. Hundreds of darts flew out from either side, darts that would have skewered them if they had walked in on their own.

"Nice call, man," Tristan commented. He was happy that he wasn't full of holes right then.

"Alright, I think it's safe to go inside now…" Yugi said, stepping beyond the arch and into a grand hallway paved with deep red stone. Yugi looked curiously at it. "This is good stuff…"

"Yugi, back on task, please," Tea said, looking around fearfully for any more traps. "You seem to have a pretty good idea of what's going on down here, and I don't want to be a human shish kabob any time soon."

Yugi nodded, regaining his focus. "I think the hallway is trap-free, so we can get going." They walked for a while down the empty antechamber until they passed through another arch and found themselves in another ridiculously huge room.

"Holy crap!" Joey said eloquently as he saw the room the size of the Taj Mahal laid out before him. "What kinda dead person needs a joint as big as dis?"

"It's the way the Kryllians honor their history, Joey," Yugi retorted, observing the enormous room with its exotic stone with an inclination to start eating the floors. "Etherstone is so rare…"

"Yugi," Atem said sternly.

Yugi winced at his tone and walked down the tall steps into the underground. "Sorry, sorry…" As he reached the last step, he stood completely still and didn't move. "There's something strange about this."

He took his Getya sword out of its hard leather sheath and gently tapped the ground in front of him. A large spearhead shot out of the floor and loomed dangerously over him. "I'm glad I checked that," Yugi mentioned, and began wondering how to get across the enormous floor.

"It's so wide…" Tea noticed. "I would be almost impossible to get all the way over there without touching the ground."

Yugi remembered his history, though. Back in the first age, almost all Kryllian kings would set up a floor like this. In order to get across, the tomb keepers would press hidden switches somewhere on the stairs. Yugi began searching the railing.

"What are you looking for, Yugi?" Tristan asked.

"There are supposed to be hidden switches to disarm the trap… somewhere…" he responded distractedly. His hand brushed against something oddly smooth beneath a vat of fire. He pressed it and something beneath him shifted. "Guys, check beneath the other lights! I think the rest of the switches are there!" he called out.

They pressed the switches beneath the other three lights and the same shifting sound was heard. "Do ya think dat was it?" Joey asked.

Yugi took out his sword again and tapped the floor. No response. "It looks like we did it!" Yugi said happily. He stepped out and began the long walk to the other side.

A few minutes later, they entered the next room. The gang collectively gasped. The room was filled with shining, sparkling gold of all shapes and sizes. Sculptures made of the rare metal and chests overflowing with coins were stacked throughout the entire cavern. Even the uncut walls were sparkling with untold amounts of rare jewels. Joey and Tristan's eyes filled with dollar signs. They could buy Earth with all of this.

But among the treasure was a dangerous foe. A titanic snake coiled itself among the gold, its midsection bulging with devoured goods. "It's the Lilitum," Atem said softly.

"It's asleep. If we hurry, we can kill it before it ever wakes up." Yugi whispered, sneaking into the cavern lightly and quietly. Atem and the others followed him, and they surrounded the serpent's head. Atem decided not to wait any longer and drew his sword. With a swift and powerful blow, Atem brought his sword down and lopped the head clean off of the snake.

Yugi grimaced as the black Lilitum blood sprayed violently out and covered Atem from head to toe. Atem flicked the snake flesh off of his blade and spit the dark fluid out of his mouth. "I wasn't expecting that," Atem said grimly.

"Well, our quest is over," Yugi said, bending down to better examine the body. "But it's strange…" he murmured quietly. "Lilitu are supposed to evaporate after death…"

At these words, the corpse started to twitch. The gang leaped back. "Are you tellin' me it ain't dead?" Joey asked. On cue, the bleeding neck of the snake sprouted a new, light-green scaled head, complete with perilous fangs.

"I guess ya are!" Joey yelled, jumping aside to avoid a lightning fast strike from the fat serpent.

"Why didn't it die?" Tea asked, quickly nocking an arrow. "Atem cut off its head!" She shot the arrow at the snake's eye, and it glanced off harmlessly.

The serpent wrapped the end of its tail around Yugi's waist, trying to choke him to death. Yugi squirmed, but that wasn't going to help him. He transformed into his Loramyshan form, and the sudden cold of his skin caused the snake to recoil and loosen its hold. "Every Lilitum has a weak spot!" Yugi called out to the others, who were all hacking ineffectually at the Lilitum's scales.

Tristan screamed valiantly and made a particularly vicious dent in the serpent's side. The serpent reared up in rage and prepared to strike Tristan down. But Tea noticed something. There was a glowing red crystal in the snake's underbelly. "Every Lilitum has a weak spot…" she recalled. She realized what she had to do. She nocked another arrow and sent it straight toward the center of the gem.

It hit home, and the gem cracked and shattered. The Midgard Serpent screamed as no ordinary snake could, and its tissue crackled and burned down to ashes in a spectacular exhibition.

"Guess we won," Joey commented, looking over at one of the treasures that had appeared when the snake dissolved. He might be able to take one… as compensation for their efforts, of course.

"Now all of these artifacts can be returned to their rightful tombs," Yugi said. That officially shattered Joey's hope for sneaking one of the especially glamorous golden pendants home.

Atem noticed a heavy-looking black cube in the midst of the shining plunder. "Yugi," he said. "What's that?"

Yugi picked it up with ease. "This is a karkesh. Uh…" What did they call them in English again? "Right, karkesh means 'shadow blood', but they're usually called "lilithim". Whenever you kill a Lilitum, one of these pops up. That's our proof for the success of our mission."

Tristan snatched it out of Yugi's hands and peered at it. "A lilithim, huh? It looks like a big rock."

Yugi smiled and shook his head. "Trust me, if it was a rock I would have eaten it by now. I'm not too interested in eating that, though."

"So, uh, Yug'," Joey mumbled. "Do ya dink it would be alright if we… uh… kept some things behind… for ourselves?"

Yugi glared at him. "These are historical artifacts, Joey! We're going to submit them to the authorities, so that they can return them to their resting places. We'll get paid, don't worry."

Joey shuffled his feet. "Just checkin'."

"Let's get out of here, before Yugi melts," Atem said, winking at the young half-human.

Yugi nodded. "Happily."


	8. Homeward Bound

Terzen was preparing a few mold biscuits for the Poya that had recently arrived from Senmar. It wasn't common that Poya came to Klyndeneya, which meant that any Poya food had to be prepared on the spot. "Mold biscuits," Terzen scoffed quietly. "Those Poya have no taste, no taste at all. Why not just have a nice raw steak or sautéed fish eyes? They're much easier to prepare, and they smell better, too."

For a moment, Terzen stopped and wondered if the Poya seated in the table across the room could hear him. Their ears were pointed and huge, which meant that they had pretty good hearing for walking skeletons.

Suddenly, the Trendestad port lit up, and out stepped the human version of the young Yugi. He looked tired and overheated. He took a relieved breath and walked toward the bar.

Next, another human walked out. This one had the same spiky Mutou hair, except he was covered in black blood. He must have tried to hack up a Lilitum without killing it. Terzen chuckled. That stuff's stench took ages to get off. Right now, the boy probably smelled like decomposing sewer rat cooked under a heat lamp, especially after his bout in the Rosterfeld sun.

After him, a bumbling blonde human spilled out of the port, holding his eyes. He must not have remembered to close them before transporting. Terzen had tried that once, just to know what was going on. He had been nearly blinded for a week, and Kryllians eyes were strong.

The sweet human girl Terzen had met earlier came next, holding herself with confidence and accomplishment. Her hunt had gone well, Terzen could tell. And he was happy for her. She deserved a nice glass of pureed sheep liver. _"But then again,"_ Terzen thought, _"maybe humans don't care for that sort of thing."_

Another guy came through, slightly disoriented but not as much as the blonde was.

"Hey, Terzen!" Yugi said cheerfully. He was holding a Lilithim. His fight had ended in success. "We finished our assignment!"

Terzen held out his hand, and Yugi gave the Lilithim to him. The Kryllian took out a small, metallic device and ran it over the Lilithim's smooth surface. Then he punched a few things into the bottom of the scanner and the Lilithim disintegrated.

"Your pay's on your card, snowflake," Terzen said, smiling. "Four hundred rasta."

Yugi's eyebrows rose high. "Four hundred rasta?" Joey asked himself. "If one rasta is five dollars, then four hundred rasta would be…"

"It's two thousand dollars," Tea said. Then it hit her. "Two thousand dollars?!" she yelled.

"For one mission?!" Tristan exclaimed. "We were out there for, like, a day!"

Terzen shrugged. "Risk of life and limb always results in high pay, mates. Besides, that's for all of you, and most people don't take a new assignment every day."

Atem didn't look that happy. "Let's go home, if you don't mind. I'd like to take a shower," he said, glancing distastefully at his blood-covered shirt.

"Of course," Yugi said, trying to hold his breath for as long as he could. "Let's go home. We'll come back soon."

* * *

Six months later, the summer sun was beating down on the city of Domino. The air wavered with the heat and school-children sweated and frolicked beneath the harsh rays.

Yugi lay on the ground beneath his ceiling fan, panting heavily. This was nearly as bad as Rosterfeld. Other the other hand, Atem was taking it fine. Apparently, ninety degrees was relatively cool in Egypt. Yugi chuckled cheerlessly. Ninety degrees in Astala would mean that the world was melting. One was lucky to get an average temperature of sixty during summer in Yugi's hometown, Poranis.

"Are you going to be alright, Yugi?" Atem asked, grinning at the poor, perspiring Astalan who was collapsed on the floor. "You don't look very good."

"I miss Poranis!" Yugi exclaimed miserably. What he would give to walk barefoot in the snow again… to taste the sweet slate from the Perjharian Mines…

"Maybe we can go there," Atem suggested. Yugi's ears perked at that. "If it's summer in Poranis, then that would mean humans are allowed, and we could always take a new assignment."

Yugi sat up. "Are you sure?" he asked. "I mean, you're used to warm weather. Poranis is going to be really cold for you and the others, even in summer."

Atem shook his head. "You're obviously uncomfortable, Yugi. I can take a day or two of cold weather if you can get out of the heat for a while."

Yugi grinned. "Thanks!" he said, and was about to hug Atem when he suddenly realized that it would be extremely gross. "Be sure to pack warm clothing. It will probably be about thirty degrees around Poranis, because it's only mid-spring."

An hour later, the entire gang arrived as Klyndeneya, ready to take a mission in or around Poranis. They had packed their bags full of human food and winter-wear. Human food was scarce and expensive in Astala, because it could only be grown in the Frevernarè Valley.

A Loramys was tending the bar in Terzen's stead. She saw Yugi and smiled. "Trezha, Yugi."

Yugi waved happily in her direction. "Frenji!" He rushed over to the bar and began talking animatedly to her in a foreign language.

"Do all Loramysha speak that language?" Tea asked Atem quietly. He shrugged.

"Yugi doesn't talk much about his home planet, even after telling us about his race," he admitted. "I don't like to push. I think perhaps it's because of his parents."

Frenji noticed Yugi's look-alike standing apprehensively with the others. "And who's this?" she asked Yugi. Her voice was heavily accented.

"This is Atem," Yugi said, pointing to the ex-pharaoh. "And these are my friends Joey, Tristan, and Tea."

"It is pleasuring to meet you," she said, making a strange gesture with her frosty-blue hand. "Are you 'ere on business?"

"Yes, we are," Atem said. "We'd like to take a mission in Poranis, actually."

"Ah, Poranis," she sighed. "A lovely city, time of year that this is. The kreikeshna are all in bloom."

"Rock blood flowers," Yugi explained when Atem looked at him for an explanation. "They're beautiful, and they bloom in early spring around the month of Reshsa. They earned their name because they grow right out of stone."

"So are there any available missions in your city?" Tristan asked. "We could be too late, or too early."

Yugi took out his account card and slid it into one of the discreet slots in the counter. A screen popped up, and Yugi selected "available assignments". The long list of missions popped up. "Are we supposed ta sort though all dat?" Joey asked, dismayed.

"Nope." Yugi said, and pressed "search". Then he entered "ten miles from Poranis" under location and confirmed. Only three missions were displayed now.

"One Slime Lilitum in the Poranis Sewers. One Yeti Lilitum in the Beromeit Fields. And one Ice Lilitum in the Caves of Mt. Fortanya." Atem read. "Which one do you think we should do, Yugi?"

"Well, Slime Lilitu are pains. You have to sift through the sludge to find a certain vulnerable crystal shard in its center," Yugi said pensively. "The Beromeit Fields are constantly covered in blizzards and snowstorms. And you have to climb Mt. Fortanya to get to the Caves… I guess it's up to you guys."

"I vote no on the Sewers," Atem said. "I've had my fill of sludge." He was thinking back to the unfortunate event with the Snake Lilitum. He had to scrub off the outer layer of his skin to get the smell out.

"I don't think I wanna be walkin' though any blizzard," Joey said.

"So that leaves the Mt. Fortanya Caves, right?" Tea asked. "Is climbing it hard? Is it like Mt. Everest or something?"

Yugi shook his head. "It's not that hard, no. But it is going to take some effort to get to the Caves. It's going to be cold, and painfully bright, too. But I guess that it's better than the Sewers or blizzards. We'll take it." Yugi pressed "accept". The mission was removed from the list.

"The 'umans are going to climb Fortanya?" Frenji asked. "Well, I wish you the best of luck. The caves are relatively low, but the trip can be dangerous. Be careful, and stay close to each other. You don't want to lose someone to the snow or ice."

"We will, Frenji!" Yugi responded. He couldn't help a small feeling of trepidation in his gut. What if they did get separated? Even in spring, Mt. Fortanya was bitter cold, and humans didn't usually fare well on its slopes. Yugi could only hope that his bout of nostalgia wouldn't get his friends killed.


	9. Dear Grandma, Thanks for Everything

Yugi, still dressed in his light summer clothing, walked out into the cold, crisp Astalan atmosphere. He concentrated and transformed. He'd be much more comfortable in his Loramyshan form anyway.

The others came out of the port and shivered in the snow. Thirty degrees, Yugi had told them. It felt more like twenty.

"I-is there a place w-where we c-could ch-ch-change?" Tea asked, shivering. It was burning hot in Klyndeneya, and they had all arrived in Poranis port wearing shorts and tank tops.

Yugi pointed to a restroom to their right. They all piled in, but it wasn't much warmer than outside. A few minutes later, they emerged, now dressed in appropriate attire.

"I hope I never have to change in an ice-bucket again…" Tea commented, walking back up to Yugi, who was waiting patiently by an ice sculpture of an exotic bird.

"Uh, guys…" he said hesitantly. "Do… do you think we could take a quick detour?"

"Sure we can, dude. Where do you want to go?" said Tristan.

Yugi played with his fingers. "Do you remember when I told you about my grandmother?"

Tea nodded. "She's the pro-human rights activist named Pijana, right?"

"Yes, well, she lives around here," Yugi said. "I'd really like to go see her again…"

"Of course we can go see her, Yugi," Atem said. "It's not as if there's a time limit on this missions. Besides, I'm looking forward to meeting her."

Yugi grinned. "She'll be happy to meet you, too! She loves learning about human ways, but she can't exactly go to Earth because she can't transform like half-humans can."

"Well, what are we waitin' for?" Joey said.

They walked down the snow dusted streets that were made of a dull, black rock. "It's shelja." Yugi explained. "All Loramysha get really sick when they eat it, so it keeps people from trying to chew up the roads."

The windows on certain buildings had a frosted look about them. They only appeared frosted from the outside, so it allowed homes to have a nice privacy from peeping toms.

"This is it," Yugi said suddenly, stopping outside an igloo-like dome shaped home. "My grandmother's house." Yugi wondered if seeing Pijana again was the right thing to do, but he decided that nothing truly horrible could happen.

He rapped on the shelja door. A bit of shuffling was heard, and the door finally opened. The woman had aged well. Her face was adorned with a few laugh lines and common wrinkles, but her frosted hair still spiked rebelliously on top of her head, and a number of white rings hung from her ears. She looked about 5 feet tall herself. It seemed that all Loramysha were short.

"Yugi…?" she said disbelievingly. "My derdensha…?"

Yugi smiled. "It's me, Dermeina."

Pijana laughed aloud and took Yugi into a fierce hug. "It has been nine years, you silly half-breed!" she laughed. "And not one letter from the Earth that I fought for! Have you been so busy?"

"Well, I did save the world about three times," Yugi said. "And high-school alone has kept me busy."

Pijana peeked at the humans behind them. "You have brought friends. How wonderful! Come in, come in!" she said, waving them into her cozy home. "So, tell me your names."

"My name is Atem, ma'am," Atem said, mimicking the hand gesture Frenji had given to Yugi. He hoped it wasn't something that could seriously embarrass them, but he did his best with the sparse information Yugi had given him.

Pijana smiled and nudged Tea in the ribs. "Cute one, isn't he?" she said slyly. "And so polite."

Tea giggled. "You're so right, Mrs. Pijana. Oh, I'm Tea by the way."

Pijana invited them to sit down on a fir-covered couch. "It's very nice to meet you both, Tea and Atem. And none of this 'Mrs. Pijana' business. Call me Dermeina."

"It's a pleasure, Dermeina. Joey speakin'," Joey said, extending his hand for her to shake. Yugi held his head. Loramysha didn't shake hands. Noticing Pijana's confusion, Joey clarified, "Uh, ya have ta grab it and shake it."

Pijana grabbed Joey's hand with her frozen one and wrapped her long fingers around it. Joey winced. Atem was right—Loramysha really were like blocks of ice. Joey began to pump their hands up and down. "There ya go, Dermeina."

She smiled. "I love learning new human customs. I hope you and Yugi have some interesting things to tell me." Pijana noticed Tristan, who was curiously examining a jar full of colorful pebbles on the table. "And who are you?"

"My name's Tristan, Dermeina," he replied. "It's really nice to meet you, after hearing what you did for the humans and all."

She laughed. "I'm glad someone appreciates it. Not many Loramysha have been crowding around to thank me."

"I don't get that," Tea said. "I mean, what you did was totally awesome. We wouldn't even know Yugi if you hadn't done your whole rally thing."

"Not many people know half-human half-Loramysha, I'm afraid," Pijana sighed. "Though I appreciate your support nonetheless."

Yugi took a small blue stone from the jar and popped it into his mouth. "So what have you been doing, Dermeina?" he asked, his mouth full of lapis lazuli.

"Not much has changed since I saw you last," she replied, taking a seat on her comfy couch. "Still living here, trying to find out all I can about humans. I learned quite a bit from your father, but it will never be the same…"

She trailed off as she saw Yugi's face. Hearing about his parents always saddened him. They had just gone off on a simple mission on the Lothine Plains in Senmar, but they had never come back. Kanae and Ichigo were experienced and formidable fighters. What kind of horrors could have killed them?

"My daughter was never afraid of death, Yugi," Pijana said to him. "You will see each other again."

Yugi smiled softly and nodded. "I know. But I can't help but wonder if they had anything to say… anything to do…"

The humans in the room looked on with pity. Yugi never talked about his parents. Deep inside, there was a loss that had never been expressed. They wondered if he had pretended that everything was alright, if he had put that sweet, innocent smile on and shrouded himself in fake happiness. Two weeks after his parents' death, he was taking tests to live on Earth, and developing falsehoods and webs of lies to distort his past. Had he ever stopped to deal with what happened?

"Kanae never lived with regrets. You know that she did whatever she felt was best and didn't look back," said Yugi's grandmother compassionately.

"But I miss her, Dermeina!" Yugi said, his voice cracking. "I can't help it sometimes! Whenever I see something of hers, or something of Rehja's, I feel this emptiness inside…"

"There used to be a person there. It's normal to feel the way you do. But don't let that feeling keep you from expressing everything you shared together. She would hate to see you give up your heritage just because of grief."

"She's right, Yugi," Atem said. He put his hand on Yugi's shoulder. "There's so much that I want to know about you. You can tell me."

Yugi's eyes softened. He had been shy about sharing interterrestrial things ever since their trip to Kryos. He had always thought that Atem would be uncomfortable, or that he didn't really want to know. And every time he spoke about his childhood, that gnawing, burning sadness churned his insides. He couldn't live like this forever. He couldn't deny the first half of his life. "I'll tell you anything you want to know, Atem."

Atem smiled, and shivered slightly. It seemed even colder inside Pijana's dome than outside. "Chilly?" Yugi asked. "It is getting late, and we shouldn't try to climb Mt. Fortanya in the dark. It's gets much colder when the sun goes down."

"Why don't you spend the night?" Pijana offered. "I have plenty of guest rooms, but no guests."

"We'd love that, Dermeina." Yugi said. "Thanks a lot. For everything."


	10. Mr Fortanya

Atem shivered on the furry bed. It had gotten even more bitingly cold after dark, and Atem was sensitive to chilly weather. Two seasons before, during the Domino winter, Yugi and Atem had to duel over what to set the thermostat at. Unfortunately for Atem, he had lost, and therefore spent the next three months in an ice-box.

Joey snored from the lounge chair. Atem didn't understand how he could sleep so well when they were trying to doze in below-freezing temperatures. Tea he could understand. She was always cold. Yugi thrived in this weather, so he of course was sleeping well. Tristan seemed to be the only one who shared his pain.

"It's freezing…" the brunette mumbled, wrapping his arms tightly around his waist in a futile attempt to get some warmth. "How long have we been sitting here, anyway?"

Atem checked his watch. The time was completely wrong. According to it, they had all gone to bed around 1pm. "We've been here for about eight hours," Atem said, calculating the difference.

Tristan groaned. "I barely got two winks of sleep, man! How are we supposed to go out to battle like this?"

"We'll be fine, Tristan," Atem said. "We've managed to stay awake this whole time. Considering that we're about to climb up an arctic mountain, I don't think we'll have any problems."

A loud clanging noise woke the sleepers with a jolt. Pijana came out, banging an ice pick on what looked like a large gong. "I will not allow slackers!" she bellowed with amazing volume for an elderly, diminutive alien. "Everyone up!" Still pummeling her gong, she went back into the Spartan Astalan kitchen.

Yugi rubbed his cerulean eyelids and sat up. "Slave driver…" he said, getting up and downing a few rock-candies.

"And no candy in the morning!" she yelled from the other room.

Yugi swallowed with awe. "She knows me too well…" he said.

Tea was waking herself slowly. She wasn't used to being alert as soon as she awoke. Even during school, she would wake up an hour earlier in order to be lucid for class. "Do Loramysha have any coffee?" she asked. Deep inside, she hoped the answer was no. If Grandma Pijana had coffee, Yugi would drink it. And if Yugi drank coffee, it would be a very interesting climb up the mountain.

Pijana walked back out of the kitchen and began folding sheets and fluffing pillows. "I'm afraid not, dear. We have obsidian and ice berry juice, though."

Tea frowned. "I'll stick with my PB&J," she said, reaching into her backpack for the food they had brought for themselves. Joey quickly joined her by ravaging through his own.

"What did you bring, Joey?" Atem asked, chewing a hard-boiled egg and a piece of bread. It had certainly kept well in the refrigerator-like atmosphere.

Joey rummaged around in the sack's bottom. "Ah, you know. The basics. Two turkey sandwiches, a bunch of bananas, those cookies Tea's mom made for me, some ginger ale…" The list went on and on.

Yugi had happily accepted Pijana's offer of obsidian and ice berry juice. He drank the smoothie-like, black-berry colored concoction thoughtfully. "I think we should take the Vestra Pass. It's the fastest and safest way, although it's a bit chilly."

Atem peered at him. "Is this chilly by your standards or chilly by ours?"

"Chilly by… mine," Yugi said at length. "But we won't be there long. We'll get up into the Caves in about an hour."

Atem grimaced. He was tired and cold, and his limbs were stiff from his lack of sleep. The last thing he needed was an hour-long trip though a below-zero mountain pass. But he told Yugi that he would be fine, so he would be fine. Even more so when he got back home.

Pijana noticed him. "Not a fan of the climate, I presume?" Atem nodded. She smiled. "I have just the thing for you." She bustled off into the kitchen and came back with a small flask.

Atem took it hesitantly. "I am still a minor, ma'am," he said. "In Domino, humans aren't allowed to drink alcohol below a certain age."

Pijana shrugged. "You're not in Domino, are you?" she said deviously. "Besides, that will warm you up better than any cover or fire. You might find that you need it."

Atem thought it over for a minute. He used to drink beer all the time; it was nothing to him. "Thank you," he said finally, placing the flask in his backpack.

She smiled in success and walked over to Yugi. "It was very nice to see you again, Grandson," she said in the Loramyshan language.

"It was nice to see you too, Grandmother," he replied. "I like the human world a lot, but I missed my home. It was nice to see it again."

Everyone gave Pijana their goodbyes and bundled up for the long road ahead. As they traveled down the shelja streets to Vestra Pass, Tristan asked, "What were you and your grandma talking about, Yugi?"

Tea slapped the back of his head. "Did you ever consider that they were talking in a language we don't understand _for a reason_!? Geez, how rude could you get…"

"It's alright, Tea," Yugi said, shaking his frosty head. "We weren't trying to keep anything from you; it's just that she's more comfortable talking in Loramyshan. We were just saying our goodbyes."

* * *

Forty-five minutes later, they were quite a ways up the Vestra Pass. All of them were blue at this point, including Yugi.

"A-are we th-there yet?" Tea chattered. She squeezed her arms around her waist, trying to get extra warmth. There was no wind, and no snow fell, but the frigid air cut through their clothing and stung their skin.

Yugi looked around for a moment. A dead, twisted tree stood around the bend of the narrow valley through which they passed uphill. "The Tree of the First Age…" Yugi mumbled in Loramyshan. They only had a few more bends to go.

"We're almost there!" he said triumphantly to his shivering friends. "Don't worry, we'll be at the caves soon enough."

They walked farther on. A stream that once trickled down the mountainside was frozen solid by their path. "How come all this stuff is here?" Tea asked. "I mean, a tree wouldn't be able to grow like that in this weather, and it wouldn't get warm enough for a stream."

"During the First Age, a group of Poya decided to take residence on Mt. Fortanya." Yugi explained. "They used advanced terraforming techniques to change the climate on the mountain, making it warm enough for them to live on. Eventually, the Loramysha living in the area decided that it wasn't right to change the natural climate, and drove the Poya out. The remains of their terraforming have been here ever since, serving as markers for travelers to the caves."

Atem chuckled. "It seems like relations between the worlds are more unstable than a house of cards. I'm surprised that the Federation hasn't become obsolete after all of these years."

"So am I," Yugi said. "But people have become better about it, I think. Before, everyone used to take offense to even the smallest cultural mistake. It's easier to be friends with another species, now."

"Well, dat's obvious." Joey stated. "I mean, just look at you and—ah!" Joey was cut off as he slipped and fell hard on his backside.

Yugi giggled and helped him up. "Uh, after we pass the stream, a whole bunch of ice is going to be on the paths. I guess I should have warned you."

Joey rubbed his rear. "Ya really should have…"

Everyone stepped carefully after that. Tea slipped once, and Joey, ever clumsy, slipped again. Finally, they saw the valley widen dramatically, and there before them was an entrance to a frozen cavern.

"These the caves?" Tristan asked, getting his balance on a rock. "Finally…"

Atem seemed to be suffering the worst from the cold. The others had eventually gotten used to the loss of feeling in their extremities, but he looked faint and extremely tired. "I'm glad we didn't g-get lost," he said softly. "Hopefully the Lilitum will be somewhere close inside."

Yugi noticed Atem's poor state of health as they walked into the cave. "Are you alright, Atem?" he asked, concerned. "You don't look so good, and I know it must have been cold for you."

Atem, resilient as ever, merely shook his head. "I'm alright, Yugi. We should get going." He could also be aggravatingly stubborn.

"_You're_ the one who told _me_ that this mission didn't have a time limit," Yugi retorted. "Besides, I'm feeling a bit chilly myself. Let's start a fire and hang out for a bit."

"Yugi, I told you. That's really not necessary—"

"I'm feeling cold," Yugi said sternly. "I'm starting a fire. You go ahead into the caves if you want, but I'm going to take a rest."

Atem sighed, but he nodded in consent. Yugi could be aggravatingly stubborn as well. Yugi took a small device out of his pocket and set it on the ground. He pressed a few buttons, and in an instant, a large fire sprung up. Yugi smiled as his handiwork and leaned peacefully against the cave wall.

Atem quickly sat beside the fire. "What was that, Yugi?"

"Something my father used to have," he replied. "He and my mom always used to get into fights about the temperature, so he would just go outside and start a fire. He did it so often that he invented a way of starting a big fire without bothering with fuel or flint."

"Cool…" Tea said, grinning as she rubbed her hands. "Your parents sound really awesome, Yugi."

Yugi smiled. "They really, really were. I wish you could have met them."

They chatted idly for another few minutes, but they didn't realize that their warm fire was stirring something. Something that lay deep within the Caves of Mt. Fortanya.


	11. Ice Princess

As the gang happily roasted by an open fire, a deep rumbling sound was heard from the caves depths.

"Uh…. Yug'?" Joey asked nervously. "What was dat?"

"It could have been an earthquake," Yugi said hesitantly. "We get them a lot on the mountain."

Suddenly, a 7-foot tall woman walked out of the dark cavernous beyond. She looked white and slightly transparent, as if she was a ghost. Her eyes were blank and empty, and her hair never moved. She was made entirely of ice.

"_This_ is the Lilitum?" Tristan asked incredulously. "It's a tall, white-haired chick!"

This tall, white-haired chick thrust out her hand. The ice hanging from the ceiling melted, as the water molecules assembled neatly in the form of an extremely large sword. Her stiff fingers grasped it, and with a mighty blow she sent a shock wave that nearly threw Yugi and the gang clear out of the cavern entrance.

"Holy crap, she's strong!" Joey said, pulling out his iron knuckles. The others readied their weapons.

Yugi was the first to strike. With inhuman agility that the humans didn't even knew he possessed, he dodged another tremendous blow and slashed at the Lilitum's arm. The Getya sword glanced off, not even leaving a scratch. Yugi stood, horrified, for a moment, until the ice-woman hit him across the face with her arm. The hit was so powerful that it knocked Yugi off his feet and into the opposite cave wall.

Tea loosed an arrow into the woman's chest, but the arrow shattered on impact. Tristan swung his staff at the Lilitum, but it bounced back, causing him to lose balance.

"Dis chick is invincible!?" Joey exclaimed, aiming a few punches at the Lilitum's lovely face and only succeeding in getting a brutal kick in the stomach.

"This Lilitum is made of ice…" Atem pondered, dodging another furious blow from the ice-woman's giant sword. He glanced at the fire they had started. "And fire melts ice."

Atem quickly removed the flask Pijana had given him from his coat pocket and opened it, dumping its contents onto his broadsword's blade. Then he quickly ran over and stuck his sword into the flames. It caught on fire instantly.

The Lilitum approached him steadily. Atem spun around, and shoved his flaming sword into the ice-woman's gut. She seemed to gasp, and unreasonable amounts of water gushed from her abdomen. Atem ripped the sword out and she fell to her knees, screaming an unearthly howl. As the wail echoed in the caverns, the ice turned to water, and the water turned to steam. Eventually, only a black, square Lilithim remained.

The gang stared at it for a while. "Good thinking, Atem!" Yugi exclaimed happily, rubbing the back of his head. He then he looked at that hand. A gleaming, blue-white substance covered his fingers. "That can't be good…" he said absently, and passed out.

Atem rushed over to the unconscious Loramys' side. "Yugi!" he said, holding up the alien's limp form. "Yugi, are you alright?"

"He must have hit his head pretty hard when that ice chick threw him into a wall." Tristan said. "Check out his blood, though."

"It's blue…" Atem mused.

"Yeah," Joey agreed. "And he hit dat Lilitum faster dan I could blink."

"He did move really fast," Tea agreed. "It must be a special ability of Loramysha that he never told us about."

"He never told us about a lot of things," Atem said.

"I'm up…" Yugi mumbled suddenly, sitting up and blinking the drowsiness from re-acquired consciousness.

Atem put a steady hand on the Loramys' chest. "No, you're not," he commanded. "You were just knocked unconscious, and you shouldn't move."

Yugi pushed him off and stood up shakily. "I'll be fine," he said, swaying like a blade of grass in wind. "I bet you're looking forward to going home anyway."

Tea took a few bandages out of her backpack and wrapped them around Yugi's bleeding, white-blue head. "Just let us take care of you a bit, Yugi," she chided. "And we'll do the best we can."

Yugi winced as she tied a knot in the gauze, but he obediently sat back down. "Thanks," he said softly.

In the silence that followed, Joey whipped out a skewer and a piece of bread from his backpack and began toasted the slice over the still-burning fire. "My goodness, Joey, how much stuff did you take?" Atem asked incredulously.

"The skewer, some salt, jam, pizza, bananas…" Again, the list went on and on.

Tea raised her hands in a sign of defeat. "I give up. I can't keep track of everything he took."

Yugi's stomach rumbled loudly at that moment. He blushed a silvery-blue color. "Uh… did you bring any rocks, Joe?" he asked embarrassedly.

Joey dramatically raised a finger and pulled a leather bag out of his coat pocket. "They used ta be Serenity's, back when she was doin' her whole 'geology' spiel. It's got all kinds in dere."

Yugi opened the bag and drooled. He began sticking things in his mouth, oohing and aahing as he discovered new varieties. A few minutes later, when Yugi and Joey had finished eating, Tea began to pack herself up. "Are you ready to go back to Earth, guys?" she asked.

"Yeah, was there anything else you wanted to see, Yugi?" Tristan asked the pale alien.

Yugi shook his head. "No. I'd like to go home now."

* * *

"Oi!" Frenji yelled to the back room. "Our little Yugi's gone and gotten 'imself another mission."

Terzen had taken the previous day off to take his wife to the Kryllian Sandshore. Watching the wind sweep the grains back and forth was an amazing spectacle, especially with his beloved spouse there beside him. But Terzen had always cared about Yugi. They had grown a bit apart when Yugi's parents died, but now that the snowflake was taking missions of his own, he'd be stopping by a lot more. It was unfortunate that he had come for his mission on Terzen's vacation day.

Terzen walked back out to the counter, which was too high for Frenji anyway. "Another mission, you say?" he confirmed. "It's good to know that he's getting his feet wet, if you'll pardon the expression."

Loramysha were like cats. They did not like to be wet, and most definitely not in warm water. A Loramys getting their feet wet would probably result in projectile vomit.

Frenji shrugged. "It's good to 'ave 'im back, yeah? Maybe we should celebrate or something."

"What, you mean in honor of him?" Terzen asked. "You want me to throw a party in Klyndeneya for some kid of an old mate of mine?"

"Why not?" Frenji said. "The poor boy is just coming back to 'is old life after ten years. Besides, 'e rescued your great, great, great, great-grandfather's artifacts. I believe they are in another tomb in Rosterfeld, yeah?"

"Yeah…"

"Besides, if 'e defeats the Lilitum in the caves 'e will 'ave saved your wife's favorite vacation site. You owe 'im your thanks, Terzen," she said matter-of-factly.

Terzen laughed. "I guess you're right, snowflake," he said, rubbing her white head cheerfully.

"Do not call me that!" she scolded, brushing his large, six-fingered hand away. "We Loramysha are not some delicate thing floated 'round in the wind. We are strong and quick, and so we 'ave been able to defend our 'omes from Lilitu for thousands of years! Do not treat us so cavalier!"

* * *

Yugi stepped out of the Poranis port and into the warm atmosphere of Klyndeneya. He was met with cheers and singing from various patrons. "Uh… what's going on?" he asked shyly.

Atem and the others bumped into him as he stood, shell shocked, in front of the crowd. "Why did you stop, partner?" Atem asked, confused.

"We wanted to congratulate you on some sweeping successes, snowflake!" Terzen said, completely disregarding Frenji's reprimand. "You're here and not dead, so this mission went well too, I'd wager?"

Yugi held up the lilithim. The crowd roared in triumph. "We just completed a few missions, guys," Yugi stated. "Why are you cheering?"

"Are you kiddin' me?" said a nearby Poyo who was usually friendly. Maybe it was the intoxicating effects of the mold biscuits. "I go spelunking there—" He hiccupped. "—nearly all the time. If you hadn't o' taken out that Lilitum, we woulda never been able to do it… again…" he slurred, and fell off of his chair.

"I take my children to the Tree of the First Age every week." one Loramyshan woman said. "I wouldn't have thought it safe if it wasn't for you."

"You saved the Rosterfeld treasure!" roared a Kryllian man. A half-dozen other Kryllians shouted in triumph after him.

"You might not 'ave noticed it, Yugi, but there 'ave been quite a few missions lately." Frenji said, walking up to them "They've no one to take them, you see. You are our first new Union in many years."

"Well, we're just happy ta help!" Joey said, clenching his fist bravely. "Dat Midgard Serpent was hard work, but I pulled through, and here we are!"

His self-magnifying speech instigated the respect of the seven Kryllians, who whooped and shouted their approval.

Atem turned to Yugi. "I guess we really are making a difference," he said. "We can be busy with school, but I don't see why we can't come here as often as we can."

At that moment, Yugi swooned and passed out again. Atem caught him quickly. "I guess that's why."


	12. Jealousy's Ugliest Head

Juno was a solitary, depressed sort of teenager. He was a Poyo, and an orphaned Poyo at that. Ever since childhood, he had to learn to fend for himself in the solitary city of Farâme.

For five years he had saved the money he had earned and stolen. Everything he hadn't spent sparsely on food he had stashed away in an isolated cavern. At the age of thirteen, he had finally gotten enough money to start a Union of his very own. He wasn't afraid to risk his life on impossibly hard missions. As far as he was concerned, he didn't have a life to risk.

Mission after mission he completed, until he had amassed thousands of rasta on his account card. But the emptiness of his orphanhood could not be filled with money. The more missions he completed, the more alone he felt. The more dangerous the assignment, the more he wanted to die while trying to complete it.

Juno now sat in the bar Klyndeneya, downing mold biscuit after mold biscuit. Maybe he would eventually get to the point where his emotions were dulled and warmed by the intoxicating stupor that mold had on all Poya.

"_I wonder if they have a mission dangerous enough…"_ Juno thought bitterly. _"It has to be dangerous enough… If I succeed, I'll be famous, and everyone will want to be with me. If I fail, then I'll die, and everything will be over anyway."_

He fingered a small ring in his pocket. After that new Union had defeated the Midgard Serpent, Juno had taken the opportunity to steal a precious object from a certain Tomb of Grend. It had given him a tremendous thrill to pilfer such a valuable object from such an ancient catacomb.

"Hey, everyone!" Terzen called out among the bar's clients. "I have a special friend of mine coming in soon. I'd like you all to give him an especially warm welcome! He and the rest of his Union were the one's who saved the treasure of Rosterfeld!" A cheer ran among the Kryllians, who were rowdy and confused from drinking fermented drederstein urine.

"He and the rest of his mates were also the ones who took the Mt. Fortanya mission!" Another cheer shot up through the Loramysha, who were sprinkled throughout the bar, quietly eating their various stones.

Juno fumed. He had been taking all sorts of missions for ten years! No one cared about _him_ or congratulated _him_! And this "friend" of Terzen's completes two missions and he gets a standing ovation? What injustice was this?

A short Loramyshan boy stepped out of the Poranis port, bandaged around the head and carrying a lilithim. The crowd began to applaud him, and the boy looked startled. Frigid humans stumbled out after him, equally shocked at their reception.

"_These amateurs are getting praise from these idiots, when I've done all the work!?"_ Juno thought furiously. _"All my life, circumstances have been unfair to me. I've working as hard as I can, and I can't do it anymore! Do your worst, Fate… I will not be alone and overlooked anymore."_

While the customers each gave the Loramys and humans their thanks, Juno took a hold of Grend's signet ring and walked up to the diminutive Astalan. "Hey," he said, trying to keep the venom out of his voice. "Thanks."

Yugi nodded and smiled. "Really, thank _you_. I never expected any of this."

"_That's because you don't deserve it, you imposter,"_ Juno thought bitterly. But he smiled in return and gave Yugi an affectionate pat on the back. Little did Yugi know, that affection pat on the back would have deeper and darker consequences than he would ever expect.

Juno stepped quietly into the port back to Shenstone. He knew that the Kryllians had enlisted the Shentone Investigation Facility to try and locate a certain item, still missing from the Tomb of Grend after the Midgard Serpent's death. It was the very signet ring that Juno once held, but Juno didn't hold it now. When he had reached over to touch Yugi, he had slyly slipped the ring into Yugi's front pocket. 

Juno walked confidently into the Shentone Investigation Facility HQ. "Miss," he said to the secretary, who was working the front desk. "I believe I have a lead on the whereabouts of Grend's signet ring."

This sort of object was important enough to defy investigative reason. If a homeless psychopath walked in and said he had a lead on the whereabouts of Grend's signet ring, the investigators would follow his every word.

The secretary's ears twitched, and she pressed a button on the communications device on the counter. "Rei-Gradia, we have a lead on Grend's signet ring."

Almost immediately, three tall, thin Poya walked up and surrounded Juno. "You have the location of the ring?" one of them asked roughly.

Juno nodded. "I saw an Astalan boy playing with it in his hands. He was in Klyndeneya just a few minutes ago. I'd bet he's still there."

The investigators rushed off. Juno stayed put. As much as he'd like to watch that new Union be arrested, he didn't want to look suspicious. He would stay in the HQ until the investigators returned with good news.

* * *

"That was really sweet of you, Terzen," Tea said, munching a few complementary peanuts that the Kryllian barkeep had given her. "You giving us that welcome."

They had decided to stay at the bar a while longer. After Yugi passed out again, Frenji had offered to patch him up. No human doctor would know Loramysha physiology better than her.

"Ah, you kids are alright," said Terzen. "I wasn't too sure about you, but I think I've come to like you all. After all, if it wasn't for your services, my ancestor's crown would be down that serpent's belly."

Atem nodded. "We're just happy to help, any way we can."

At that moment, three Poyan officers stepped out of the Shentone port. "Investigators?" Terzen asked confusedly. "What are they doing here?"

Yugi walked out of the back room, rubbing his newly healed head. "I think we can go guys…" he said, when he noticed that the investigators were all looking directly at him.

"That's him." one of them said, and they walked up and took Yugi violently by the arm. "Where's the ring, Astalan?" the investigator demanded.

"The ring? What are you talking about?" Yugi asked. He didn't struggle. Poya were known for their harsh treatment of criminals, and any resistance to an investigator could result in death.

"Grend's signet ring," said another. "You have stolen it and you will suffer the consequences."

"Do not touch him!" Atem demanded. If Yugi was in danger, then any rules were officially screwed. "He has not done anything wrong!"

"Search him!" the leading investigator commanded. "We shall see if you speak the truth, Union Number 1354."

Yugi raised his hands in submission and allowed himself to be searched. He hadn't stolen anything, so he would be fine. But at that moment, the first officer pulled out a shiny and distinctive ring. "This is it, Rei-Gradia," he said.

A look of horror came over Yugi's face. But he had never taken Grend's signet ring from the treasures! He and all of the others could be put to death for such a crime.

"Union #1354, you are to be put to death by sentence in the Caves of Perdition."

"Yugi, you didn't do this, did you?" Atem asked as he was brutally bound and dragged toward the Shentone port.

"I didn't do anything!" Yugi yelled. "Please, Atem—" They were taken through the port to the city of Shentone. "Please believe me."

Atem nodded as the others followed them. "I believe you, Yugi. But how are you going to convince them?" He jutted his head toward the officers who were leading them toward a dark, looming building.

"Let go of me!" Tea screamed, kicking and flailing with all her strength. But the investigators were too strong for her. They opened the door of the black building and dragged them all inside. It was pitch-black, and they could barely see in front of them. Suddenly, Yugi felt a strong blow to the back of his already injured head. And then he didn't feel anything else.


	13. The Horror of the Caves

Yugi sat up and winced. Every movement made his head feel like it was about to explode. He looked around, but he couldn't see anything. The room he was in was completely dark.

Yugi groped for a wall. He hand met something solid but riddled with holes. He felt around it for a while, when he realized with horror that the walls were made of skulls. Yugi recoiled and tried to stand, but his head hit the ceiling. There wasn't much room in his cell.

Yugi began to breathe hard. He was trapped and horribly claustrophobic. The ceiling was low, and the room was dark, and he was completely alone. Yugi choked back a frightened sob. He hadn't done anything to deserve such treatment. And his friends were suffering even more badly.

Loramysha were a complex and secretive race. They all had certain aspects about their physiology that they preferred to keep inside their own world. Their extreme agility was once such ability. But Yugi had another trick up his sleeve, a trick that would hopefully keep him from losing his mind.

The Loramys concentrated and clenched his teeth. The state he wanted to enter was called pleij, and it was a difficult thing to obtain. But times were desperate, and Yugi was desperate. It a few moments, Yugi's skin shimmered brilliantly. It was a built-in night light, handy for snow-ins and avalanches.

Yugi could see the walls and the ceiling now, which made him feel better. What he didn't want to see was the age-old skeletons lying in the corners. He shivered. He certainly hadn't been the first one locked in the Caves of Perdition.

The others had to be around here somewhere. Whether they were half-trapped in a minute alcove like he was, or stranded in a giant cavern, they had to be in one of the many rooms. The labyrinthine Caves were pelted with monsters, and the investigators had taken Yugi's Getya sword. But he had to find them. He couldn't leave he friends to such a horrible fate as dying slowly in the darkness that surrounded them.

Yugi cringed as he reached over to one of the human skeletons and plucked off a shoulder blade. It was morbid and dull, but it was the best weapon he would get down here. He crawled out of his alcove and yelped as he fell to the ground. He must have been somewhere above the actual floor.

He sighed in relief. This corridor had much more space to move around in, and the walls glowed with a dim, green light. Deciding not to lose his place, he bit his thumb with his pointed teeth. A luminescent white-blue liquid dripped out, and Yugi drew an X on the wall. It contrasted clearly with the dark metal.

"Left or right?" Yugi wondered. "I guess it doesn't really matter…"

Yugi walked toward the left. "Guys!" he yelled. "Are you guys there!?"

There was no response. Yugi sighed. No one knew how big the Caves of Perdition actually were. He could have to walk for miles to find them. And they could be wandering around looking for him, too. It would make locating them nearly impossible.

* * *

Atem sat up and shook the dizziness from his head. The last thing he remembered was being dragged off by those Poya police. Apparently, they thought that Yugi had stolen some sort of priceless artifact. Atem shook his head. Yugi would never do that. 

He was situated between two high walls made of some sort of black, shiny metal. "The others would be in here somewhere…" he mused. "I need to find them."

Atem stood and began walking in a random direction. Again and again he called out his friends' name but got no response. A while later, Atem stopped. There was a bright, bluish-white substance marking an X on one of the walls.

"Where have I seen that before?" Atem asked himself. Then he remembered. When Yugi hit his head, his blood had been that same color. Was that Yugi's blood, which he had used to trace his steps?

Atem set off quickly. Yugi's markers could lead him to the Astalan. He stopped suddenly. Another X on the wall. He was going in the right direction.

Atem ran on for a few more minutes. "Yugi!" he yelled. All at once he bumped violently into a short, glowing boy. "Yugi!" Atem exclaimed joyfully, slightly out of breath.

"Atem?" Yugi asked. He jumped on Atem, hugging him fiercely. "You're okay…"

Atem hugged him back. They were a strong team, and next to nothing could stop them when they were together. "We need to find the others," Atem stated after they separated. "They can't be that far, considering that we found each other so soon."

Yugi nodded. "I don't know how we'd be able to find them, though."

Atem looked over Yugi's head. "I think I know how." He was staring directly at a small impression of Tristan's face, written by a red sharpie on one of the walls. He had done something similar back in India, when he had traveled through the maze in the Capsule Monsters universe.

Yugi bit his thumb again because the blood flow had stopped, and drew another X on the wall. "We'll all be able to find each other, this way." And he ran in the direction of Tristan's faces.

* * *

"Why does it hafta be _your_ face?" Joey asked angrily. "Mine looks so much better!" 

Tristan growled as he sketched his visage. "It'd be hard to try and draw all of your hair, anyways."

"What's dat supposed ta mean!?" Joey yelled.

Tea held her head. "Shut up, so we can get going! We need to find Yugi and Atem!"

"Guys!" Yugi yelled at that precise moment.

"Yugi! Atem!" they yelled back simultaneously. They ran up to each other.

"Is everyone alright?" Tea asked concernedly. "Yugi, you're bleeding."

Yugi stuck his thumb in his mouth. "It's alright," he mumbled. "You guys are okay too, right?"

They nodded. "But I don't like the décor in this place, man," Tristan said. "Actually, I'd kinda prefer to be home."

"Wouldn't we all," Atem said. "But how are we supposed to find an exit? This entire facility was designed to keep us down here."

"We're innocent," Tea stated firmly. "And I'm not going to rot down here just because some crazy alien made a mistake. We will find a way out. Period."

They smiled at her conviction. She really was the glue that held the team together. "Yugi, you would know da most about this place and why da heck are ya carryin' a bone?" Joey asked suddenly.

Yugi held up the scapula. "There are dangerous, wild animals down here. They're starved, so they would eat anything. We need to be careful, so I thought we'd take a weapon." Yugi sighed. "But no one knows a lot about the Caves of Perdition. They were built in the first age, back when Poya didn't keep historical records. There is an exit somewhere, and we'd be able to get out if we could just get to it. But there are going to be a lot of things standing in our way."

An ear-piercing shriek echoed through the corridors. "Somethin' like dat?" asked Joey. Yugi gulped and nodded.

"We should go," Atem said. They ran in down a corridor and tried to avoid the sounds of growls and screeches. At last they found themselves in a room at least three times as large as the others.

"What's this?" Yugi asked. A loud stomping noise interrupted his thoughts. It came closer and closer. Then around the corner of one of the halls trudged a giant, ferocious-looking beast. Its black fur was matted and rank, and gleaming, predatory red eyes shone from its sockets. It reared back and howled, revealing sharp black teeth. There was a dark hole in its abdomen.

Yugi gulped. He knew what that was. It was a creature so horrible that only a few had faced it and lived. Unions and civilians alike were warned to stay away from them with all vigilance. "A Mother Lilitum…" he breathed in shock.

The Mother Lilitum sniffed the air, and looked in their direction. "This ain't good!" Joey yelled, and dove to the side and the beast swiped at them with a gargantuan claw.

Yugi breathed fast. There was no way that he could face something like this. He was a novice. He was the short, skinny kid who was beaten and picked on in high-school. He could never be strong enough to destroy it.

The Mother Lilitum sensed his fear. She roared and rushed over to the boy. "Yugi!" Atem yelled. He could not let his partner die and remember that he had done nothing. He could not live with that. In a split second, he rushed to Yugi's side and pushed him out of the way. The razor-sharp claws meant for Yugi slid into his own stomach.

"Atem!" Yugi exclaimed from the ground. The Mother Lilitum retracted her claws and blood spurted from Atem's mouth. He collapsed to the ground. Yugi choked. It couldn't be real… it couldn't be.

The creature turned back to her original target. She and her children would feast happily today. But Yugi couldn't let Atem's sacrifice be in vain. The beast prepared to strike, and Yugi gripped the human shoulder bone in his hand. As she swiped, Yugi rushed forward with amazing speed and drove the scapula into her jugular.

She shrieked as dark blood gushed from the wound. She held her hands to her neck, trying to dislodge the object, but her claws only made the wound more severe. The beast fell to the ground, never to spawn another Lilitum again.

"Did we win?" Tristan asked. He hadn't seen what happened to Atem. There was no victory here.

Yugi stumbled over to Atem's limb form and knelt. Tears streamed down his face. "What were you thinking!?" he asked in a quiet fury. "You got yourself killed… for a half-breed like me…"

Yugi bent over and placed his head on Atem's blood-stained stomach. Joey was the first to realize. "Oh… no…"

Tea was confused. "What…?" Then she saw it too. "A-Atem?"

Tristan screamed and punched the floor. "It took Atem five thousand years to die and he picks now!?"

Yugi lay in shock on Atem's empty body. Atem was gone. He wasn't going to come back. Tear after tear rolled down Yugi's face, and landed on Atem's gaping wound.

A small cough was heard. Yugi sat up. Atem's chest had just moved. A few more coughs came after, and a wheezing breath. "Atem!?" Yugi asked, shocked.

The ex-pharaoh sat up, taking shaky and rasping breaths. "Yugi?" he asked.

Yugi's breath caught in his chest. "How… how did you…?"

Atem looked down at his stomach, where once before a sucking hole had been. Now there was nothing but blood-stained skin. "Yugi, what happened?" Atem asked. "I don't know… the last thing I remember was being taken to prison." He looked around. "Was I unconscious this whole time?"

Yugi said nothing. He grabbed Atem suddenly. "You're not the type to die, are you?" he laughed while crying.


	14. Goodbye, Federation

Here endeth the fic. I hope you all had a very good time reading it.

Thanks to **Angel Born of Darkness, Alex Fisher, YY'JA'EE-Lvrs, Deviousdragon, A.YamiYugi, dragonlady222, Arion Girl, Suma Amoru, DragonZap, Shamise, Gnos fo Yrinrete, Chibi Chib, CosmicEssence, Yizuki, YY-Lvrs, Cheeky-eyes, ShadonicFan4Eva, **and **YugiLou** for reviewing!!!

Thanks to **Arion Girl, Deviousdragon, Dragon of the Apocalypse, ShadonicFan4Eva, XHelloXGoodbyeX, YamiKoi, Yizuki, **and **YugiLou** for favoriting!!!

Thanks to **Angel Born of Darkness, Animefang Girl, Arion Girl, Chibi Chib, Deviousdragon, Haruhibunny, Kai3anime, Panguins-in-American-Oh-my, Suma Amoru, The Dragon of the Sky, Yizuki, YugiLou, **and **pandagirl6662003** for alerting!!!

And thanks to everyone who read!

* * *

Yugi and the others stumbled up the dark stairs and out into the moist, dusky Senmarian air. Yugi breathed deeply. Even mold and swamp smelled better than rotting corpses. Atem kept asking what had happened while he was "asleep." Yugi didn't really know himself. He needed time to sort everything out in his head.

One of the officers who had arrested them was talking to an important-looking Poyo in regal robes. "I had evidence to believe that they had stolen the ring, so I dropped them into the Caves."

The robed Poyo noticed the disheveled gang standing at the exit of the Caves. "Are you referring to this Union, Ruhnethor?"

Tea waved. "How did you get out!? Ruhnethor asked incredulously.

"If I remember correctly, keeping Lilitu is illegal in Senmar, right?" Yugi asked. The man in the robes nodded. "Well, you're going to have to tell someone that there used to be a Mother Lilitum down there."

The man gasped. "A Mother Lilitum? In the Caves!?" he wheeled around, facing Ruhnethor angrily. "You are the Keeper of the Caves, Ruhnethor! How could you allow a travesty like this to occur?"

Ruhnethor growled. "I most certainly allowed this to happen, Rei-Devnum." he spat. "Why are you trying to drive Lilitu to extinction, when they could be valuable assets of destruction?"

"Are you mad?" Rei-Devnum asked. "You are guilty of violating the very law that you are meant to uphold! You are condemned to the Caves yourself!"

Ruhnethor growled and took off toward the Ferian Marshlands. "How dare you defy arrest!" Rei-Devnum yelled after him. "We will find you, I assure you of that!"

Suddenly, remembering that he had an audience, he turned back to the bedraggled party. "Ah, yes. I assume you know the law, Astalan?" Yugi nodded. "Then you are free to go."

Rei-Devnum walked away to organize a search party for Ruhnethor. Tristan turned to Yugi. "We're free to go, just like that?" he asked, confused. "But don't they think that we stole some kinda special ring?"

"It's called the 'purging of the legislature'," Yugi answered. "They believe that if a criminal or group of criminals exposes corruption in the law or in the people who uphold the law, then those criminals should be cleared of all charges."

Tea raised her eyebrows. "So we just told them that this Ruhnethor was keeping Lilitu and we're innocent?"

Yugi sighed. "The Senmarians have always had a strange government. But right now, I don't really mind."

* * *

A few minutes later, they all arrived back at Klyndeneya. "Yugi," Atem said. "You still won't tell me what happened."

Yugi sighed. "You saved me, Atem," he responded quietly. "At the cost of your own life."

Atem stopped, shocked and confused. "You mean—I died? How could I not recall such a thing?"

"I don't know, Atem…" Yugi said, shaking his head. "And I don't know why you're here now, either."

Atem didn't know what to say. He always imagined that he would give up his life for his partner's, but now he knew. He just didn't remember.

Yugi sat down at the bar counter. "Frenji?" he asked the Loramyshan barmaid.

She looked up at him. "You look terrible, Yugi," she stated. "What is it?"

"Has a Loramys ever… resurrected someone before?" Yugi asked. Atem came back to life somehow. Yugi needed to know what happened.

Frenji put a cold hand on Yugi's own. "You did it, yeah?"

Yugi was surprised. "So it was me?" he asked.

"In a way," she began to explain. "There are three types of tears, you see. The first is called basal tears, which coat the eyes. The second is called reflex tears, and they drive out any irritations. The third is called physic tears. They are a result of extreme emotions or physical pain. Loramyshan physic tears can 'eal 'uman wounds. I don't think 'e was dead, Yugi… but 'e was close."

Frenji continued to work while the others sat in the chairs beside Yugi. "Hey, dude," Tristan greeted. "Uh… getting your bearings or something?"

"I can't do this anymore, guys," Yugi said suddenly. "I can't risk my life… or someone else's life… for a living."

Atem looked at him. "This is because of me, isn't it?"

"It is," Yugi said. "It's not your fault or anything. But I don't want to lose you and think that it was because of me."

Atem nodded. "I would feel the same way about you, Yugi. This mercenary business… it's not for us. And I'm sure that there are plenty of devotees ready to take our place."

"So we can be normal kids?" Joey asked.

Tea laughed. "At least until we have to save the world again."


End file.
